All Saints Hospital

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• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

This means we looked for evidence that the service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good.

This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

Staff understood the individual needs of patients and supported patients to understand and manage their care, treatment or condition. Staff involved patients in care planning and risk assessment and actively sought their feedback on the quality of care provided. Staff informed and involved families and carers appropriately.

However, patients raised concerns about staff that could not sign on the wards, particularly agency staff and at nights. Patients felt ignored by staff at times. We observed that staff did not always interact and engage with patients effectively on the ward.

This service scored 70 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service did not always treat people with kindness, empathy and compassion, or respect their privacy and dignity. Staff did not always treat colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

We spoke to 1 of the 3 patients that were on Appleton ward at the time of the assessment, with the assistance of an interpreter. We also utilised the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI) to observe how staff were interacting with patients and delivering care and treatment on the ward. The SOFI is a framework for directly observing and reporting on the quality of care experienced by people who may not be able to describe this themselves.

Patients raised concerns about not having enough staff that were able to sign on the ward, in particular at night. They described feeling ignored by a lot of staff. Patients noted that the wards had enough staff but that they were often in the office and did not engage with patients.

Staff attitudes and behaviours when interacting with patients did not always show that they were discreet, respectful and responsive, or that they provided patients with help, emotional support and advice at the time they needed it. We observed mixed interactions between staff and patients whilst using the SOFI on Appleton ward. We observed a patient that was trying to get a staff member’s attention however the staff member did not realise that the patient was trying to communicate with them. We also observed limited interactions between staff and a different patient except for when the patient themselves initiated it. We also saw two hearing staff talking amongst themselves without signing which could potentially be quite isolating for patients and deaf staff. We did, however, observe positive interactions between staff and a patient, with staff being responsive to the patient’s needs and were praising the patient.

Patients described that most staff were kind and helpful although it was difficult to communicate with staff who did not have BSL skills.

Patients generally felt safe on the ward, although did feel ignored by staff at times.

Staff supported patients to understand and manage their care, treatment or condition. Patients stated that staff helped them with understanding aspects of their care plan and supporting them in line with their communication needs.

Patients described that the service supported them to have contact with their family as per their wishes.

Staff understood the individual needs of patients, including their personal, cultural, social and religious needs.

Staff said they could raise concerns about disrespectful, discriminatory or abusive behaviour or attitudes towards patients without fear of the consequences.

Staff maintained the confidentiality of information about patients.

The service treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

The service made adjustments for disabled patients. One of the bedrooms on Appleton ward had been adapted to meet patient needs, including a walk-in shower and the provision of a hospital bed. Managers advised that any specific adaptations or adjustments identified for patients would be provided as necessary.

Patients did not raise any issues about the ward environment and described that, where any issues were raised, that maintenance would address these promptly.

Staff ensured that patients could obtain information on treatments, local services, patients’ rights, how to complain and so on.

Patients described feeling involved in meetings about their care and treatment. Patients felt involved in decision making about their care and in relation to the ward through community meetings. Patients gave an example that when they had raised concerns about food the service acted, and improvements were made.

Patients had a choice of food to meet the dietary requirements of religious and ethnic groups and to account for allergies and intolerances. Managers confirmed that the service would accommodate for any patient dietary requirements as necessary.

Patients noted that technology was used to enable them to keep in touch with their friends and family, along with meetings with organisations.

Staff ensured that patients had access to appropriate spiritual support. Managers confirmed that they would support any patient to access spiritual or religious support as required.

Managers ensured that staff and patients had easy access to interpreters and/or signers. The service had a link with a BSL interpreter service who could be booked to accommodate the communication needs of patients and staff. This also included out of hours provision in addition to 24/7 access to online video BSL interpreters to support engagement.

The service promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

Patients felt listened to by staff about any concerns that they had and felt supported in being listened to about their care and decisions. Staff informed patients about their care and treatment including considerations and planning about potential discharge from the ward.

Patients were informed of their rights under the Mental Health Act. The service had a video that could support staff in this process to ensure this was being appropriately signed to patients. The service also used interpreters when informing patients of their rights.

Patients felt supported with their medicine including being supported and encouraged to manage this independently where appropriate.

Patients could participate in community meetings. Patients said that the service would listen and make changes if they raised any concerns.

The service listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff responded to people’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

Staff were aware of and dealt with any specific risk issues, such as physical health issues and mostly care planned for these accordingly. In one patient record for a patient with epilepsy, the epilepsy care plan did not provide specific details about the type of seizures the patient had and how staff should manage the seizures. This was escalated to managers.

Staff identified and responded to changing risks to, or posed by, patients.

Staff used de-escalation techniques to reduce the need for physical interventions when patients’ behaviours became heightened. The ward generally had low levels of physical interventions.

The service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Staff mostly felt respected, supported and valued. Staff gave positive feedback about the Registered Manager and the impact they had made since joining the service.

Managers were aware of historic and ongoing cultural issues within the service and had undertaken pieces of work to address and improve this.

Staff felt positive and proud about working for the provider and their team. Staff were passionate about their roles and ensuring that patients received appropriate care and treatment.

Staff had access to support for their own physical and emotional health needs through an occupational health service. Managers explained how they monitored and supported staff members with any physical or emotional health issues or needs.

The hospital had an average sickness rate of 5.7% for the 12 months prior to the assessment. The month with the highest sickness rate was February 2025 at 9.9%. The service was able to provide commentary as to why the sickness levels had increased during certain months, mostly due to multiple staff being on long term sickness.

Staff appraisals were taking place and the figures for these were improving.