Oak Tree Surgery

On this page

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

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 as Good. At this assessment, the rating remained the same.

People were treated with kindness and compassion. Staff protected their privacy and dignity, including in emergencies. They treated people as individuals, recognising and supporting their preferences. People had choice in their care and treatment, including where peoples’ appointments took place. Feedback received described staff as caring and compassionate. The service supported staff wellbeing.

This service scored 75 (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 always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. We received feedback that staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.
Arrangements were in place to promote patients’ privacy when attending the practice. Staff could tell us the steps they would take to promote dignity in the event of an emergency.
The National GP Patient Survey data reflected people were listened to and that they were treated with care and concern. People had trust in the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to and were involved in their care and treatment. Staff understood the needs of the population and the challenges they faced.
People described the service as ‘’caring and compassionate’’ and ‘’very caring and courteous’’.
A colleague from an outside organisation told us that the service ‘’always responds to our anxieties promptly’ and ‘’we can depend on them for a swift response’’.

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.
Patients’ personal, cultural, social, religious and equality characteristics needs were understood and met. Patient’s communication needs were met to enable them to be fully involved in their care. There was a process to share electronic care records with other local health and care professionals where required.
The National GP Patient Survey data reflected people were involved as much as they wanted to be in decisions about their care and treatment. The service carried out its own patient survey, monitored for themes and took actions depending on the nature of the concern.
Staff could explain to us that when the service changed over to a digital triage service people needed additional support to access the service. Staff explained how they met people’s communication needs and gave patients choices about appointment times and locations.
 

The service promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.
The service displayed leaflets relating to community based activities, advocacy services and healthy living to promote independence. The service was taking part in a community ‘well fed’ project to promote healthy eating in the local area. Staff told us that they offer patients a choice of location for their appointments, which rural patients benefit from, this was confirmed by patient feedback to us.
A staff member described how the service supported a patient to attend an appointment who required additional support to access the building.
 

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.
The service had a digital triage service that was overseen by a GP. This system ensured that where people had immediate needs they could access services. Staff knew how to support people who displayed signs of needing urgent medical attention and the service benefitted from being close to the local urgent treatment centre. Staff gave examples of where a coordinated approach had taken place to support a patient with an urgent medical need.

The service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.
Staff told us they were supported in their role and felt valued by leaders. Staff could access a range of wellbeing resources. Staff had the necessary resources and facilities for safe working, such as regular breaks, rest areas and staff team building events. Staff could raise concerns and discussed their wellbeing through individual appraisals. The service had a home visiting service and there was a lone working policy which protected staff from lone working risks. Staff told us they had enough time to carry out the duties of their role and protected time to undertake their training and continued professional development.