Whitemoor 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 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.

The service treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. Arrangements were in place to promote patients’ privacy.

National GP Patient Survey data showed people felt listened to and were treated with kindness. For example, 89% of respondents to the GP Patient Survey stated that during their last appointment, the healthcare professional was very good or fairly good at treating them with care and concern. This was comparable with the national average of 86%. The percentage of respondents to the GP Patient Survey who stated that during their last appointment, the healthcare professional was very good or fairly good at listening to them was 93%. This was comparable with the national average of 87%.

Staff we spoke with understood Gillick competency (the legal and medical principle to assess whether a child under 16 has the capacity to consent to their own medical treatment without parental consent) and there was a process to ensure young adults had control over their own privacy and the amount of parental involvement in managing their care and support.

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.

Peoples’ personal, cultural, social, religious and equality characteristics needs were understood and met. Peoples’ communication needs were met to enable them to be fully involved in their care. A poster was displayed in the reception area to inform people of their right to have reasonable adjustments if required. For example, larger print letters, longer appointments or quiet spaces whilst waiting for an appointment.

The practice had identified 673 people registered with the service as carers which was approximately 5.4% of the practice population. Alerts were added to the records of carers to make staff aware of their additional needs. Carers could be referred to the care co-ordinator or social prescriber if they needed additional support. Carers were offered flu vaccines and if the person they cared for was housebound, home flu vaccinations were offered.

We did not look at Independence, choice and control during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

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. Data from the GP patient survey showed that 96% of respondents stated that during their last appointment they had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to. This was comparable with the national average of 93%.

There was a system for appointment triage that ensured people with immediate needs had access to services. To provide support and guidance, the duty GP was co-located with the receptionists whilst people requested appointments. We observed this was highly effective and provided additional support to non-clinical members of staff. Staff we spoke with knew the process for referral to emergency support and had flashcards to refer to for guidance.

The service cared about and promoted the well-being of their staff and supported and enabled staff to deliver person-centred care.

Staff told us they were valued by leaders. Leaders had taken steps to recognise and meet the well-being 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.

There was a well-being champion and well-being sessions such as yoga. Reasonable adjustments had been made to support staff. For example, standing desks. Leaders had carried out a staff well-being survey to understand the needs of staff, 36 staff members had responded to it. Most of the feedback received was positive. Where opportunities for improvement had been identified, a virtual suggestion box for staff to make suggestions for improvement had been put in place. The service planned to repeat the survey in 6 months’ time and was exploring the introduction of a mental health at work first aider.