Stokesley Surgery

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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 the practice involved patients and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

At our last assessment, we rated this key question as good. As this assessment, the rating remains the same.

This service scored 85 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The practice was exceptional at treating patients with kindness, empathy and compassion in how they respected people’s privacy and dignity.

We received a lot of extremely positive feedback from patients with examples of how kind and caring the staff at Stokesley Surgery were.

One patient told us, “I have recently experienced some mental health difficulties and the care and compassion shown by [GP] was first rate. [They] listened and demonstrated genuine empathy. This is the norm at the practice.”

Another patient said, “We have been registered with Stokesley Health Centre since we moved here [from another area of England]. We have been repeatedly impressed by the care and kindness of the whole team. Access to appointments is never a problem. Asking questions always gets a quick response and the front desk team are excellent when trying to resolve your issues.”

The practice gathered ‘Friends and Family Test’ feedback from patients which reflected their level of satisfaction. Data for 3 months (covering June, July, and August 2025) showed 96% of patients (from 1,375 responses) described their overall experience of visiting the practice as ‘very good’ or ‘good’, with 3% of patients responding that it was ‘neither good nor poor’ or ‘don’t know’.

The practice shared some of the positive patient comments received during team meetings to reinforce good practice by staff. They reviewed any comments reported as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ to try and learn from points raised and drive constant improvement of their services. Following a patient complaint about staff name badges being too low on some lanyards, staff began wearing their name badge higher on their uniform to make it easier for patients to read.

The GP Patient Survey showed Stokesley Surgery scored much higher than local and national averages in several areas of patient feedback. For example, 96% of patients said the healthcare professional at their last appointment was good at treating them with care and concern. This was higher than the local (87%) and national (86%) results.

Staff provided additional assistance to patients with mobility and / or sensory needs to ensure they were safe during their practice visit and that they returned home safely. One patient said, “Reception staff helped me out to [my] car for my lift as my mobility is poor. This was much appreciated.”

We observed the contents of ‘thank you’ cards from patients which referenced the compassion shown by staff, the “level of care and patience extended over many years”, and the “first-class professional attention delivered with good humour and an empathetic manner.”

Staff knew to consider whether a child under the age of 16 may consent to their own medical treatment without parental knowledge or permission. This ensured young adults had control over their own privacy and the amount of parental involvement in managing their care and support.

There was a separate room near the main reception area for patients who wished to speak privately to a member of staff. Treatment and consultation rooms had appropriate privacy curtains.

Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. The practice had been complimented by another healthcare organisation which was grateful for Stokesley Surgery staff being so willing to help.

We observed kind and caring interactions between staff and patients.

The practice treated people as individuals and made sure patients’ care, support and treatment met their needs and preferences. They considered people’s cultures, unique backgrounds, and any protected characteristics.

The practice’s premises and website were accessible.

The practice considered the communication needs of patients. For patients with specific communication needs, details were recorded on their records so other healthcare providers would be aware. The practice had a portable induction loop available for patients with hearing difficulties. They had translation services and information in other languages available for patients.

The practice received compliments for supporting and providing appropriate healthcare to people from other countries or areas of the U.K. when they visited the Stokesley area.

The practice referenced provisions within The Equality Act when creating policies and procedures to ensure they considered the potential impact on different groups and individuals.

Staff understood the local community and the needs of their patients. Some staff had taken on lead roles at the practice to provide more specialist support to patients. This included helping patients deemed to be frail, those with a learning disability, diabetes, and patients with weight management or respiratory needs.

The practice promoted the independence of its patients.

Patients knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. We saw evidence patients had been given information about treatment so they could make an informed decision on whether to accept it.

The practice ensured the communication needs of patients were met to enable them to be involved in their care.

Staff had access to information about local support routes. They helped patients and their carers access community-based services.

The practice ensured additional support and flexibility was available for patients with caring responsibilities.

The practice had a large elderly population which included some frail patients. The practice’s care coordinator led on providing extra support to patients who needed it.

The GP Patient Survey showed 75% of Stokesley Surgery’s patients were offered a choice of time or day when they last tried to make an appointment. This was significantly higher than local (55%) and national (54%) results.

The practice was exceptional in how they listened to and understood the needs, views and wishes of their patients.

The GP Patient Survey showed 99% of Stokesley Surgery’s patients had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they spoke to during their last appointment. This was higher than the local and national results of 93%.

Staff responded to patients’ needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. Staff responded appropriately if patients deteriorated and became more unwell during their visit to the practice.

The practice had a mix of pre-bookable and same-day appointments available to respond to patients’ immediate needs. Staff left it to patients to decide if they’d prefer an in-person or a telephone appointment.

A duty doctor was available each day for acutely unwell patients and for reception staff to direct urgent queries to. All staff had undertaken basic life support training. We saw and heard of individual circumstances where the staff responded to patients whose health had deteriorated by immediately escalating to medical professionals and undertaking diagnostic tests.

After all the same-day appointments had been allocated, the duty doctor triaged any further requests to assess urgency and decide on the best action to ensure patient safety.

The practice monitored monthly and daily telephone data, as well as data relating to calls received at different times of the day. They reviewed their processes and staffing levels and made any changes required. In September 2025, the practice received 5569 calls. The average wait time was 85 seconds, with 161 (2.89%) people deciding to hang up.

The practice listened to feedback from comments by patients and from members of their Patient Participation Group. They regularly assessed how the appointment booking system was working and they changed their processes to make improvements where necessary. For example, the practice utilised some of their extended access appointments when needed to support with acute, on-the-day presentations. The practice could escalate these appointments to respond to winter pressures.

We received incredibly positive feedback from patients regarding access to appointments. One patient told us they, “have never had any trouble making appointments and the level of care is excellent.”

Another said, “Stokesley is very lucky to have our local surgery. We can almost always see a doctor or healthcare professional on the day if we contact the surgery at 8am and even see a preferred clinician if they have surgeries that day. Advanced appointments are also available online which is easy to use.”

Stokesley Surgery responded to proactive information from local retailers who made staff aware of any signs of vulnerability in patients attending their stores. The practice care co-ordinator completed referrals and provided information to ensure these patients received appropriate care and support.

The practice cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff. They supported and enabled staff to deliver person-centred care to patients.

Staff felt the practice had a positive culture ensuring dignity and respect for patients. Most staff liked working for the practice and felt it had a good working atmosphere.

Leaders recognised and met the wellbeing needs of staff. Staff had the necessary resources and facilities for safe working. The premises had an area for staff to take breaks.

The practice had a lone working policy to ensure staff were safe when working somewhere other than practice premises. They also had appropriate policies covering bullying, harassment and equality and diversity to prevent staff from being mistreated at work.

In staff feedback we received, all staff told us they felt supported by their line manager and senior managers.