Wargrave House 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 remains the same.

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.

There was a culture of kindness and respect within the practice. The practice treated people with empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff gave examples about how they treated patients with kindness and compassion to support them. For example, there was a designated quiet area for those patients that preferred this space and reasonable adjustments were made for patients with additional needs. The National GP Patient Survey Data demonstrated that 74% of respondents felt they were treated with care and concern during their last appointment, which was lower than the local average of 88% and lower than the national average of 86%. Following this feedback, the practice have developed their own questionnaire and continue to send out to patients to identify ways they can improve. Arrangements were in place to promote patients’ privacy. For example, the waiting area was not directly near the reception area so conversations could not be overheard, chaperones were available, and privacy curtains were in the clinical rooms. During the site visit, we observed staff being helpful and polite to patients. We received positive patient feedback highlighting the kindness of staff. For example, a patient expressed how a member of staff went out of their way to ensure their prescription was ready when they came into the practice.

The practice treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. Personal, cultural, social, religious and equality characteristic needs were understood and met. Patient requirements such as communication needs and necessary physical adjustments were recorded on the patient record. Translation services and interpretation support including British Sign Language support were available. We saw evidence of support tools and advice to aid people’s independence and support. For example, staff had received training about autism and learning disabilities and were able to support people who found it difficult to be independent and to access services. The practice had appointed a dedicated carers’ champion who supported this group of people. Processes were in place to record when new people registered with caring responsibilities so the carers champion could provide the support needed. The practice was a veteran friendly accredited practice. Accreditation meant that the service had an awareness of some of the specific needs of Veterans. They could better identify and treat Veterans, refer them where appropriate to dedicated mental health and wellbeing services. One of the partners supported the Royal College of General Practitioners by developing training materials and was involved in the steering committee for researching into Veteran health.

The practice promoted people’s independence and supported them to make decisions about their care, treatment and wellbeing. They provided patients with information and guidance to enable them to make informed decisions about their care. National GP Patient Survey data showed that 87% of the respondents felt involved as much as they wanted to be in decisions about their care and treatment during their last general practice appointment, which was lower than the local average of 93% and lower than the national average of 91%. As part of our assessment, we invited patients to provide us with their feedback about the practice via our ‘Give Feedback on Care’ process. We received feedback that patients reported being listened to, treated with respect, and given clear information to support them in having choice and control. Staff ensured that all necessary information was accessible between services to ensure patient preferences were met to support and maximise patient’s independence and outcomes from care and treatment. This was also considered during the referral pathways and home visits.

The practice 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. Not all staff were up to date with their basic life support (BLS) training. However, the practice acknowledged this feedback and assured us all staff knew what to do in an emergency situation and informed us a member of staff hadcompleted their BLS instructor course to enable the practice to offer in-house training. Staff we spoke to confirmed they knew how to respond when a patient needed urgent attention and knew the processes to follow to ensure emergency support was given. Requests for appointments were subject to assessment via clinical triage. The triage system was supported by care navigators to ensure patients received appropriate and responsive care. The paramedics reviewed the urgent online triage under the supervision of the duty doctor to ensure people with immediate needs had access to the appropriate services. Various appointments were available such as face to face or telephone. Since the last inspection, the practice had expanded the practice facilities by adding more clinical rooms, which meant they were able to offer more appointments to meet the patient demand.

The practice cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff. Leaders told us they supported and valued their colleagues. Staff feedback was positive. For example, staff felt supported in their roles and felt that leaders were visible, approachable, compassionate and understanding. Leaders had taken steps to recognise and meet the wellbeing needs of staff. For example, a compliment tree was on display for staff to read the positive feedback from patients and daily informal tea breaks were encouraged for all staff to connect, interact and support each other. This was an opportunity to have discussions about both work and outside of work. Workplace adjustments were also put in place to accommodate staff needs such as flexible working patterns or individualised job descriptions.