Hockley Farm Medical Practice

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 previous comprehensive 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. The National GP Patient Survey Data demonstrated that 80% of respondents felt they were treated with care and concern during their last appointment, which was slightly below the national average of 86%.

Arrangements were in place to promote patients’ privacy. For example, private areas were available if patients wanted a quieter area, chaperones were available, privacy curtains were in clinical rooms. In addition, an extra screen had been installed at the reception desk to increase patient privacy.

During the site visit, we observed staff being helpful and polite to patients and they had a culture of kindness and respect between colleagues.

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. Staff had completed equality and diversity training. To accommodate individual needs, patient requirements were recorded on the patient record such as communication needs. Translation and interpretation support, which included British Sign Language, could be organised. For patients that had difficulty using technology, information could be printed on paper if this was preferred.

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 slightly below the national average of 92%.

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.

The practice listened to and understood patients’ needs, views and wishes. Staff responded to patients’ needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. Staff had received training to know how to respond when a patient needed urgent attention and the processes to follow to ensure emergency support was given. Staff could also send an urgent task on the clinical system to the on-call GP if they needed any help to determine the urgency of patient needs.

There was a system for clinical appointment triage that ensured people with immediate needs had access to services. There was an on-call GP on duty that reviewed people’s queries and various appointments were available such as face to face, online or by telephone.

The reception team had been trained to signpost patients to the appropriate service and clinician such as the 7 common conditions including earache, sore throat, and urinary tract infections to the Pharmacy First service.

The social prescribers could also offer support and signpost to other relevant services to meet the needs of patients.

The practice cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff. Leaders told us they supported and valued their colleagues. All the feedback we received from staff was positive about the practice. For example, staff told us they felt they worked well as a team, and colleagues supported one another.

Leaders had taken steps to recognise and meet the wellbeing needs of staff. For example, we were provided with evidence of a practice Staff Wellbeing policy which gave information on the provision of initiatives which were provided or signposted for staff. These included access to confidential counselling and flexible working options where possible.

Leaders told us the practice operated an open-door policy, allowing staff to approach managers to discuss wellbeing, workload or concerns at any time. The practice held regular departmental meetings and catchups which provided opportunities for staff to raise concerns, share feedback, discuss workload and support needs, and identify any issues that may require further support or action.

In addition to the departmental meetings, leaders organised protected learning time sessions and team lunches for staff. These sessions provided opportunities for learning and team communication.

The practice also organised a number of staff events and social activities throughout the year to encourage team building; strengthen positive working relationships; promote staff wellbeing and foster a supportive and inclusive team culture.