The Brooke 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 80 (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 and in how they respected people’s privacy and dignity. Staff always treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

Arrangements were in place to promote patients’ privacy. National GP Patient Survey data found that 85.7% of people using the service during their last appointment, the healthcare professional was very good or fairly good at treating them with care and concern. This compared to the national average of 86%.

We saw staff speaking to people with understanding and kindness. Staff treated people with dignity and respect. They were able to take people to a quiet area to allow people to share confidential matters with them without these matters being overheard by others.

The service had policies and procedures for staff to follow and regular training to keep staff abreast of best practice.

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 communication needs were met to enable them to be fully involved in their care.

The practice had a hearing loop to help with those hard of hearing. Information leaflets were available in large text or braille if required.

There was information on boards that supported people from different backgrounds and those with protected characteristics.

The practice staff worked together to treat people as individuals. Staff built relationships with people that allowed open conversations to take place. Individuals felt able to raise concerns about how taking different medications was having a negative impact on their overall wellbeing.

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

National GP Patient Survey results found that 90.3% of those that responded felt that they had been involved in decisions being made about their care. This compared to the national average of 91.2%.

Staff helped patients and their carers to access advocacy and community-based services when needed.

Staff ensured that people using the service had all options available to them so they could make informed decisions about the care and treatment they received.

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.

The service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and was exceptional at supporting and enabling staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Staff told us they were valued by leaders. 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. We saw team building days were established within the practice.

The provider had signed up all colleagues to a Corporate Protection Plan which is offered to all staff that have completed 6 months continuous service. Another service the provider had signed up to another service which offers 6 free confidential mental health counselling support sessions per year. Other benefits included physiotherapy, dental, eye care and retail discounts.

The provider made any reasonable adjustments within the workplace and offered flexible working patterns to help maintain a good work life balance for staff.

The provider actively encouraged staff to develop and try new ways of working. Staff told us they felt supported to progress and managers worked with them to identify learning that staff wanted to undertake to develop skills. There was a receptionist that had identified through the appraisal process that they wanted to upskill to a phlebotomist. The provider took time to find appropriate training and released the staff member to attend the training course required.

The provider hosts a dedicated electronic channel for staff wellbeing which covers areas such as fitness motivational challenges and counselling sessions.

The staff led on an initiative to support the local children’s hospital department by collecting pyjamas around the Christmas period and delivered these to inpatients over the festive period.

The staff observed all religious days and festivals including Ramadan and Iftar. The staff were aware of the different cultural needs of the staff working for the service and were respectful of Friday prayer time and helped to share the workload so staff could attend the local mosque if needed.