The Old School 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.

The service treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

Arrangements were in place to promote peoples’ privacy. However, during our on-site visit, we overheard staff speaking to people in the busy reception area. Although the conversations we overheard showed staff were being kind and courteous, this did not protect people’s privacy and dignity. The self-check-in screen was located opposite the reception desk, right next to where people were directed to speak with reception staff. These conversations could be overheard. Following the on-site visit, the service took immediate action to improve the privacy for people in the reception area.

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 mental health team delivered trauma-informed care which focused on individual treatment plans and people’s own experiences.

People’s personal, cultural, social, religious and equality characteristics needs were understood and met. People’s communication needs were met to enable them to be fully involved in their care. During our site visit, we identified the service did not have a hearing loop. We discussed this with the service, and they told us they could arrange a British Sign Language interpreter to support people with a hearing impairment attend their appointment.

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

Translators could be booked to support people to attend appointments if English was not their first language.

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.

There was a system for appointment triage that ensured people with immediate needs had access to services. Staff we spoke with knew the process for referral to emergency support. The service had a dedicated team of mental health nurses who offered same-day phone calls and where, necessary, face-to-face appointments.

People could request an appointment with a named clinician. If there was no availability, people were either offered an appointment with another clinician or placed on a waiting list for the named clinician and as soon as an appointment became available, it would be offered to them.

Data from the 2025 National GP Patient Survey data were positive about people’s experience at their last appointment. For example, 82% of responders said they felt their needs were met. This was below the local and national average of 90%.

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

Leaders had taken steps to recognise and meet the wellbeing needs of staff, which included the necessary resources and facilities for safe working, such as regular breaks, comfortable rest areas, coffee machines and free fruit.

Staff reported being supported if they were struggling at work. We saw annual team away days were established within the service as well as staff social events throughout the year.