The Sloane Court Clinic

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.

This is the first inspection for this service where a rating has been applied. This key question has been rated as good.

This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

This service scored 80 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Patients told us the staff treated them with kindness, compassion and respected their privacy and dignity.

Patients were very positive when talking about the staff and the service they had received. They told us they felt listened to and supported in appointments.

Patients commented positively on the flexibility of the service, such as being able to have more regular appointments when needed, at times that suited them.

Staff told us they could raise concerns about disrespectful behaviour or attitudes towards patients without fear of the consequences. For example, operation staff felt able to raise concerns about the tone in a clinical letter. Managers acted on the concerns raised.

The service collected feedback from patients to continually improve the service and experience for patients. For example, some patients wanted more information on what the clinicians looked and sounded like. Videos of clinicians explaining a number of topics, including what to expect at your first appointment, were created and uploaded to the service’s website. The service updated their website with frequently asked questions to improve the information available to patients.

Staff maintained the confidentiality of information about patients. Record systems were secure and the service had white noise machines in communal clinic areas to keep conversations private.

The service treated people as individuals and made sure the care and treatment met patient’s needs and preferences.

Patient communication needs were met to enable them to be fully involved in their care. For example, one patient told us their clinician writes to them in bullet points to help them understand the information. A number of clinicians speak additional languages. This information is displayed on their website to support patients where English is not their first language.

The service had close links with a Jewish charity to support their patients when needed.

The service had a chaperone policy where a patient was able to have someone join their sessions for support. This could be someone the patient knew or a member of staff who had received chaperone training.

The service promoted people’s independence, so people had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

Patients said staff provided good, clear information about the service. The service’s patient feedback surveys showed 83% of patients thought the amount of information available to them before their appointment was excellent or good.

Those having medicines prescribed said staff gave them clear information about side effects and helpful information to inform their choice of medicine. Patients also had access to a consultant pharmacist, who was available to meet with patients to discuss medicines in more detail.

Patients told us staff gave them the support and treatment to support their individual needs.

The clinic does not provide a crisis service, and they do not accept severe presentations. New referrals were screened to ensure patients could safely be managed by this service. When a patient was not suitable for the service, the patient was provided with information on where to get support that is more suited to their needs. For example, a local NHS crisis team, liaison psychiatry or another private provider.

When patients already under the service became more unwell, clinicians were able to see their patients more regularly and refer them to more supportive services as needed, such as a crisis team or an inpatient ward.

Staff told us they felt respected, supported and consistently valued by their colleagues and managers. All staff spoke very positively about working at the service and they were proud of the work of their team.

The service carried out a survey for their operations team in April 2024. Nine staff completed the survey, and they found staff rated them 5/5 for receiving appropriate recognition, having managers that are good role models, and feeling proud to work for the service. Staff rated the compensation package as 3.89/5. Managers have since increased the operations team pay banding and were in the process of looking into staff benefit ideas.

The service recognised staff on special occasions, such as birthdays, by sending them flowers.

The service had regular social events away from the office to support team bonding.

Staff told us the service supported their professional development. For example, one staff member had been given more responsibilities in the clinic supporting the development of the website and maintaining referrer relationships. Another operations staff member was able to spend some of their time working as an assistant psychologist.

Operations staff appraisals always included conversations about career development and how it could be supported. The service’s staff survey rated career opportunities as 4.33/5.