Caythorpe & Ancaster 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 kindness, compassion, dignity and respect. At our last assessment, we rated this key question as good. At this assessment, the rating has remained 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 practice demonstrated they treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion. We saw examples of Respect forms being completed thoroughly, ensuring they had considered people’s privacy and dignity. This was done in discussion with their families. We saw an example where the Respect form had been reviewed with a person and their family following a hospital admission as they had changed their wishes. This was done so in a sensitive and supportive manner. The practice had good links with care facilities they served and we saw comments from local organisations that valued the practice’s kind approach to dealing with people. We saw examples where people had moved GP surgeries a few times before coming to this practice and they provided feedback that they had been very impressed with the service, care and attention this practice took in their care.

The practice had a good level of understanding of their population’s needs. The practice responded in a way that was thoughtful to individual needs and circumstances. The practice appreciated personal differences and reflected this in tailoring care to individual needs. We saw an example of care where the practice team had gone above and beyond to ensure a patient’s immediate safety and wellbeing. A person who had not attended for an appointment was picked up on by staff as unusual and the practice arranged a clinician to visit their home. They were acutely unwell and required hospital admission. The practice had a good understanding of people using the service so the team were able to recognise when people weren’t well.

The practice clearly demonstrated an approach whereby people’s choice and independence were a priority. People were given access to book their own routine appointments, including for further investigations. People were given choice of clinician and site. We saw examples of how the practice cleverly managed urgent appointments to ensure all people had access to a same day appointment, time permitting. Through the practice’s online service, people were given the option to decide if their concern was urgent or routine. This benefited people by giving them autonomy over their own health. People were well informed about their treatment options and were appropriately signposted and provided further information to aid their choice.

The practice had an excellent appointment triage system that consistently provided people to access same day urgent appointments. The practice continuously monitored appointment need and always met demand. We saw data that showed the practice’s appointment system had impacted on fewer Emergency Department attendances from their patients. This benefited people as it meant they could seek care, where appropriate, from the practice, instead of having to seek out of hours care. Staff proactively ensured people had the necessary support in emergency situations. We saw a good example of staff being adaptive to their schedules to ensure a vulnerable person received emergency care and treatment at home.

Staff told us that the practice worked as a team and without barriers. Staff had access to wellbeing support and a new role of a mental health champion in the practice provided staff with the opportunity to seek ground level support. We saw examples of staff being supported through difficult life periods. The practice had arranged a staff day trip to show appreciation for staff. Staff told us this made them feel valued. This benefited people as the practice displayed a cohesive way of working and staff had excellent ethos and morale in their roles. The practice plan to host a staff awards function to highlight good patient care and recognition.