Northway Medical Centre

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 always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. The practice was accredited veteran friendly and treated people with empathy, compassion and respected their privacy and dignity.

National GP Patient Survey data reflected people felt listened to and were treated with kindness. For example:

• 95% of respondents said the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to was good at treating them with care and concern during their last general practice appointment, which was higher than with the local average of 82% and higher than the national average of 86%
• 89% said the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to was good at listening to them during their last general practice appointment, which was higher than the local average of 84% and higher than the national average of 87%.
• 96% of people found reception and administrative team helpful, which was higher than the local average of 79% and higher than the national average of 83%.

Arrangements were in place to promote patients’ privacy. Staff we spoke with understood Gillick competency and there was a process to ensure young adults had control over their own privacy and the amount of parental involvement in managing their care and support.

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.

Systems were in place to make sure patients were treated in ways that suited them. Individual preferences were noted on the patient record. The practice made reasonable adjustments for patients with disabilities and offered interpreting and translation services.

Results from the National GP Patient Survey indicated that 81% of patients felt the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to was good at considering their mental wellbeing during their last general practice appointment, which was higher than the local average of 71% and higher than the national average of 74%.

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

Staff helped patients and their carers to access advocacy and community-based services. The people we spoke with on the day of the onsite assessment told us they felt included in decisions about their care and treatment.

National GP Patient Survey data found that 98% had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to during their last general practice appointment, which was above the local average of 91% and above the national average of 93%.

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 knew how to respond when a patient needed urgent attention and knew the processes to follow to ensure emergency support was given. We reviewed staff training files and found that staff were up to date with their Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and anaphylaxis training.

The results of the GP National Patient Survey showed that 97% of patients knew what the next step would be after contacting their GP practice which was higher than the local average of 79% and national average of 83% and 99% of patients knew what the next step would be within 2 days of contacting their GP practice which was higher than the local average of 92% and above the national average of 93%.

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 valued by leaders and they were visible. 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 and rest areas.