Saville Medical Group

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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

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, and measures were in place to promote patient privacy, including notices in the reception area inviting patients to request confidential conversations and access to private consultation rooms when needed.

Results from the 2025 National GP Patient Survey showed that 91% of respondents felt they were treated with care and concern, which was higher than the national average of 86%. In addition, 89% of patients reported that health professionals were good at listening, compared with a national average of 87%. Staff we spoke with told us that treating patients with dignity and respect was central to the practice’s values and embedded in everyday care.

The practice received several positive compliments from patients and visitors, highlighting compassionate care and professionalism. Feedback praised GPs for being caring and attentive, nurses for providing supportive and reassuring treatment, and reception staff for delivering excellent service. Additional comments recognised the welcoming approach of the whole team and the positive experience of students during placements.

One patient who had previously found it difficult to engage with healthcare Professionals reported that being listened to and understood by a GP helped them to communicate openly and re-engage with ongoing care. The patient expressed gratitude for the compassionate and understanding approach.

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 and made reasonable adjustments to support equitable access to care.

Patients’ personal, cultural, social, religious and equality characteristics needs were understood and met. Interpreting services were available for patients with language needs, and patients were able to request a private room for sensitive or confidential discussions. Where additional time was needed, staff offered double appointments to ensure patients felt listened to and fully involved in decisions about their care.

The practice had a structured approach to supporting people with learning disabilities and ensuring care was tailored to individual needs. Annual health assessments were proactively offered, with initial contact used to identify communication needs and reasonable adjustments, and consent sought to involve carers where appropriate. Patients were offered flexible options including telephone or face-to-face appointments, longer consultations, or home visits where needed, including for those living in care homes.

Leaders told us they routinely reviewed patient feedback and adjusted service delivery in response, for example by increasing the availability of longer appointments where patients needed additional time with clinicians.

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 practice supported patient choice regarding how care was accessed and delivered. Administrative staff used a structured triage process to help patients access the most appropriate clinician. Where patients expressed preferences for a particular GP, this was accommodated if possible.

The practice used the Accessible Information Standard to ensure patients’ communication needs were identified and met.

Data from the 2025 National GP Patient Survey showed that95% of respondents felt involved as much as they wanted to be in decisions about their care and treatment, which was higher than the national average of 91%. In addition,46% of respondents reported that they usually saw or spoke to their preferred healthcare professional, compared with a national average of 40%.

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, including mental health crisis teams.

Staff had completed care navigation training and demonstrated a good understanding of their role in supporting people to access the most appropriate care.

The practice had recently implemented a comprehensive care navigation system. This had resulted in a faster and increasingly accurate response to patients’ immediate needs. Leaders were able to keep this process under review and adapt it to the changing needs of the patient population.

We saw the care navigation tool, which worked effectively to support staff. Reception staff entered patients’ concerns into the system, which then guided them to the most appropriate clinician or service. Leaders told us the system could be updated with additional keywords and that they had spent almost a year developing and tailoring it to meet the specific needs of the practice population.

Alongside this, the practice delivered regular in-house training to reinforce triage and escalation processes. Training also supported staff to identify symptoms that required urgent clinical assessment, such as sepsis.

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 that all members of leadership were approachable. 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. Staff reported being supported if they were struggling at work.

The practice leadership arranged a range of wellbeing initiatives to build strong relationships and a positive team culture. These included staff wellbeing days, social events, yoga sessions, art and ceramics activities, and involvement in litter-picking initiatives. Structured feedback was gathered following wellbeing events and social activities, including the wellbeing day and pub quiz, and leaders used this feedback to make improvements to the organisation and delivery of future activities.

Leaders also used wellbeing feedback and ongoing staff engagement to implement wider, longer-term improvements across the practice. This included investment in the working environment and facilities, increased flexibility in working patterns and workload management and professional development opportunities.

There was evidence of regular staff meetings where updates were shared, and open communication was encouraged. Staff told us their views were listened to and that leaders responded to feedback and concerns in a timely way, contributing to an open, supportive, and respectful working culture. Staff told us they worked well together across all roles within the practice.