- NHS hospital
Easingwold Satellite Renal Unit
Assessment report published 10 September 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
The Easingwold Satellite Renal Unit is located at Acorn Court, Church Avenue, Easingwold and provides local in-centre haemodialysis treatment. It is part of the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust but is registered with CQC as a separate location.
The facility helps chronic kidney disease patients avoid long journeys to main hospital sites within the trust. The unit provides haemodialysis to patients 6 days a week with 2 sessions each Monday to Saturday with an additional twilight session on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
We conducted an onsite assessment visit of Easingwold Satellite Renal Unit. We assessed quality statements from the safe, effective, responsive, caring and well-led key questions. We rated the service as Good overall.
In safe, we found a good learning-based culture with an emphasis on patient and staff safety. Safeguarding responsibilities were identified and understood. The unit had enough suitably skilled staff who responded well in an emergency. Staff received meaningful supervision, education and appraisals. Medicines were managed well and every environment we visited was visibly clean. Equipment was well maintained. However, we had concerns about the suitability and state of repair of the estate and some of the rooms used. We identified breaches of Regulation 15 in relation to safe environments. We also identified breaches in Regulation 12 in relation to medicines management.
In effective, we looked for evidence people and communities had their needs assessed and received the best possible outcomes. The service worked well across teams and services to support people. There was input from the local trust and there was dietetic support for the people who used services. The service monitored people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. However, some policies used by the unit were out of date. This meant we were not fully assured that the most up to date best practice was being followed. This is a breach of Regulation 17 in relation to good governance.
Blood results and other key performance indicators were regularly monitored and discussed to optimise patient outcomes. This showed patients were receiving effective treatment. Consent was actively sought and checked on an annual basis.
In caring, we found people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care. We looked for evidence people were always treated with kindness, empathy and compassion. We checked people’s privacy and dignity was respected and their experience of how they were treated and supported mattered. We also looked for evidence every effort was made to take people’s wishes into account and respect their choices, to achieve the best possible outcomes for them.
In responsive, we found people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery. We saw people and communities were always at the centre of how care was planned and delivered. We checked the health and care needs of people and communities were understood, and they were actively involved in planning care that met these needs. We also saw evidence people could access care in ways to meet their personal circumstances and protected equality characteristics.
In well-led, we found service management and leadership was clear, consistent and supportive. Leaders and the culture they created supported the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care. Staff were engaged with the vision of the service and the service had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. The service valued diversity in their workforce and worked on an inclusive and fair culture for both patients and staff members. The service understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership with other units and external stakeholders. However, we found some policies and procedures were out of date and in need of review and updating.
People's experience of this service
We spoke with patients who used Easingwold dialysis unit to find out about their experiences of the service. We spoke with 7 patients. All of the patients we spoke with were happy with the care and treatment they received at the unit. They told us staff were kind, helpful and friendly and supported them to have the best dialysis experience possible each time they attended. They told us they thought staff knew them very well and had formed very good professional working relationships with them.
Patients told us that staff listened to their wishes and tried to accommodate their needs whenever they could. This included patients being able to choose their session days and times to fit in with their lives away from the unit. Patients felt understood and listened to.
Patients told us they were provided with refreshments to meet their dietary needs throughout their dialysis. This was monitored to make sure what they consumed did not adversely affect their dialysis.