Wolstanton 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 has changed to outstanding.

This service scored 90 (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 was exceptional at treating 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.

All staff we spoke with and received feedback from demonstrated a genuine commitment to providing the highest level of care to the inclusion health population. We observed staff treating people with kindness and respect within the waiting room.

Arrangements were in place to promote people’s privacy. National GP Patient Survey data reflected people felt they were treated with kindness. For example, 95% of people who responded stated the healthcare professional treating them with care and concern during their last appointment, this was above the national average of 87%. In addition, 95% of respondents responded positively to the overall experience of their GP practice, this was significantly above the national average of 75%.

All staff within the service were aware of the needs of the wider community and contributed to a range of activities in order to give back to the community. The service did this through charitable donations with money raised through wellbeing activity weeks and contributions to local foodbanks and homeless charities.

Bereaved family members received cards which offered the service’s condolences and signposted families to the dedicated web page for further support.

Feedback from people who used the service was very positive. They commented that all staff were professional, friendly, helpful and reassuring and staff cared about people. People commented about the exceptional service they received from all staff and in particular the GP partners.

The service treated people as individuals and was exceptional in how they made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. The service 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 service had developed a reasonable adjustment questionnaire to enable people to identify and share what help and support they needed. This was available in both paper and digital formats and posters were on display in the practice to raise awareness. There was a section dedicated to reasonable adjustments on the practice website. The practice website offered the option to view information in multiple languages.

The service told us when people made contact with the practice they ensured equality and diversity were respected, in addition to recognising the importance of adapting their communication to meet individual need and treating each person as an individual. Individual needs and preferences were recorded and the service adapted accordingly, for example translation services and longer appointments were made available. Staff told us people were able to communicate with the service via their preferred method and this was confirmed by feedback from people who used the service.

Staff told us how they supported minority and marginalised groups of people for example people from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, or another diverse gender identity (LGBTQIA+) population. Information to support this group of people was available on the practice website. The service had participated in a pilot project for the national opt in process for transgender and non-binary cervical screening. Following the national implementation of the service, practice staff repeated the search and re-invited those eligible who had not yet attended for cervical screening.

The service had identified 719 people registered with the service as carers which was 6.5% of the practice population. Carers were offered health checks and vaccinations and could be referred to the social prescriber or care co-ordinator for information and guidance on support available to them.

The National GP Patient survey results found 98% of people who responded to the survey had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to during their last appointment, this was above the national average of 93%.

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 people and their carers to access advocacy and community-based services and could refer people to the social prescriber or health and wellbeing coach for information and guidance for support available to them.

The National GP Survey results found 98% of people who responded to the survey were involved as much as they wanted to be in decisions about their care and treatment during their last general practice appointment. This was above the national average of 91%.

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 that ensured people with immediate needs had access to services via the duty doctor. Staff we spoke with knew the process for referral to emergency support.

The national GP Patient Survey results found 96% of people who responded to the survey stated they felt listened to by the healthcare professional during their last appointment, this was above the national average of 87%.

The service always 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 extremely 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.

Staff told us that leaders cared about their wellbeing and staff felt valued and supported by leaders and colleagues. Staff were supported by a dedicated wellbeing team, which had developed a range of strategies to support and enhance staff wellbeing. Staff completed annual wellbeing surveys and changes had been made following staff suggestions. These included providing a standing desk, reducing the brightness of the lighting in reception, phasing out lunch time meetings so staff had a proper lunch break and adjusting timetables to enable travel for home visits.

Staff told us they were asked about their wellbeing during their annual appraisal and wellbeing check-ins also occurred periodically throughout the year. Two members of staff were trained as mental health first aiders who were able to provide additional support if required. Staff told us how helpful and supportive these members of staff were.

Seasonal wellbeing weeks were organised 4 times a year, involving team building through craft activities, competitions and activities which helped staff to get to know each other better. The service had introduced a “positivitree” and rainbow into their common room to promote positive affirmations of staff towards each other (on the positivitree) and to celebrate achievements (gold coins on the rainbow). Staff told us this has been an excellent way of promoting positive feedback and to raise morale when things are difficult. These were made by members of their wellbeing committee. The positivitree affirmations were collected every so often and placed in a Wellbeing Newsletter which was circulated to all staff.