Harrogate District Hospital

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

This means we looked for evidence that the service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

At the 2016 assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

We looked for evidence that people were always treated with kindness, empathy and compassion. We checked that people’s privacy and dignity was respected, that they understood that they and their experience of how they were treated and supported mattered. We also looked for evidence that every effort was made to take people’s wishes into account and respect their choices, to achieve the best possible outcomes for them.

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.

We always treat people with kindness, empathy and compassion and we respect their privacy and dignity. We treat colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

We scored the service as 3. The evidence showed a good standard. The service always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

Staff attitudes and behaviors when interacting with patients showed that they were discreet, respectful and responsive, providing patients with help, emotional support and advice at the time they needed it. Staff supported patients to understand and manage their care, treatment or condition. We observed that midwifery staff were kind, calm and reassured women when required. We observed a phone call in the maternity assessment centre (MAC) where the midwife remained calm, reassured the women and gave information which related to what to expect following the women’s query. The woman was also advised to call back should they require further advice.

The trust shared the agenda for the Make Birth Better study day (16 June 2024) and unconscious bias training PowerPoint slides. The unconscious bias training identified what bias looked like, the need to promote equity and the importance of understanding people’s behaviors and how yours could affect others. The service did not confirm whether all staff groups had attended these training sessions when held.

Staff tried to ensure women’s privacy and dignity; however, we observed that women’s beds in the MAC and induction bay on Pannal ward were separated by curtains which meant other women could hear conversations about others potentially leading to a breach of confidentiality of information. Women confirmed when asked that they had heard personal information about others.

Staff directed patients to other services when appropriate and, if required, supported them to access those services.

Patients said staff treated them well and behaved appropriately towards them. The patient survey from the antenatal clinic and the ‘ask a midwife’ patient feedback both gave positive feedback from women. Staff told us some women had reported longer waits for their appointments in the antenatal clinic following arrival at the clinic.

Staff understood the individual needs of patients, including their personal, cultural, social and religious needs.

Staff said they could raise concerns about disrespectful, discriminatory or abusive behaviour or attitudes towards patients without fear of the consequences.

We treat people as individuals and make sure their care, support and treatment meet their needs and preferences, taking account of their strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

We scored the service as 3. The evidence showed a good standard. 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.

Staff ensured that patients could obtain information on treatments, local services, patients’ rights, and how to complain if they had concerns with their care. Women and birthing people could also access support through the ‘Pregnancy and Birth Revisited service (PABR)’. PABR is a confidential service that provides an opportunity to discuss and understand what happened during pregnancy, labour and birth.

In addition, staff said information was provided at different times as the woman passed along their pregnancy pathway, for example: the induction of labour leaflet. Staff were informed that women had accessed this information which flagged electronically within individual women’s records.

The Picker (2022) survey action plan had been updated to include the 2024 survey findings. The action plan identified 33 actions of which 28 were completed. Five actions remained in development which related to patient information and the production of short video’s, a home birth workshop for community midwives and discussions which related to place of birth at each antenatal appointment. The target dates for these actions were 30 June 2025.

The Perinatal Mental Health (PNMH) Safeguarding 2024 action plan identified 10 actions, one of which was complete. The action plan identified actions such as safeguarding supervision, PNMH guidelines and referral processes, use of baseline assessment PNMH tools at antenatal and post-natal stages. The actions aimed to provide additional support to women using the service.

The information provided was in a form accessible to the patient group. Staff ensured information leaflets were available in languages spoken by women. We saw a welcome sign in different languages at the entrance to the maternity unit.

Should a woman experience a bereavement, pregnancy loss information was available, and a bereavement midwife was available to provide additional support. The bereavement midwife supported women and their families during the bereavement process. We saw a case study which identified the care and support a family had received prior to the loss of their baby. It was evident from the information shared the support and care was individualised and had considered her religious and cultural beliefs.

The bereavement suite where parents could stay with their baby was accessed from the delivery suite corridor, this was recently soundproofed which allowed privacy for women and their families. Parents could access food and drinks when in the suite.

Bereaved mothers were offered a memory box and were offered the opportunity to take their baby home if they wished to do so. Parents were assured their baby was never left alone and there was a dignified process in place to transfer babies to the mortuary.

Managers ensured that staff and patients had easy access to interpreters and/or signers. The service also provided avatar translation videos women could access, for example, one such video provided screening information in different languages.

Patients had a choice of food to meet the dietary requirements of religious and ethnic groups and to account for allergies and intolerance's.

Staff ensured that patients had access to appropriate spiritual support, however, not all women we spoke with knew how to access spiritual support.

We promote people’s independence, so they know their rights and have choice and control over their own care, treatment. and well being.

We scored the service as 3. The evidence showed a good standard. The service promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and well being.

The service made adjustments for patients, for example, by ensuring people’s access to premises and by meeting patients’ specific communication needs.

Open visiting rights to immediate family members were granted.

Women could access support groups such as the breast feeding and nutrition groups.

Women were supported to make choices about their pregnancy, the adjustments if required and where they would have their babies.

The service worked to try to reach reach inclusion health groups and was community focused, they recognised that the population demographics had changed and worked in collaboration with organisations to meet their needs.

Information was provided to women at different stages of their pregnancies. We saw the information uploaded to the woman’s record and also staff could see from the electronic record whether the women had accessed the information. However, staff recognised that even though information was accessed this did not mean the woman had read the document.

We listen to and understand people’s needs, views and wishes. We respond to these in that moment and will act to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

We scored the service as 3. The evidence showed a good standard. 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.

To reduce risks to refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants the service ensured the continuity of care by midwives. If consultant led care was required a referral to the appropriate obstetrician following risk assessment was made.

Professional interpreting services were used to ensure effective communication and confidentiality. Midwives would communicate what to expect as part of the antenatal assessment, identify potential risks and where needed considered offering appointments at home.

Staff identified and responded to changing risks to patients, for example, the infant feeding coordinator reviewed babies readmitted with weight loss, led on safe sleep and ICON projects such as baby crying and how to cope.

All families had received their first post-natal visit at home. Babies were weighed on day 3 and clear guidelines were in place to support midwives and doctors to develop feeding plans where weight loss was identified for newborns. Families were supported by syringe feed and cup feed at home. Formula milk was provided when needed by the trust.

Breast feeding support groups and specialist feeding clinics were in place to support feeding problems. Staff said the breast-feeding rate on day 14 following discharge was 89%.

A Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership representative was in the antenatal clinic waiting room talking with women, families and visitors to capture their views of the service. The Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership lead told us they felt integrated with the department and any concerns they raised were proactively responded to.

We care about and promote the well being of our staff, and we support and enable them to always deliver person centred care.

We scored the service as 3. The evidence showed a good standard. The service cared about and promoted the well being of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Staff who worked within the Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit (EPAU) worked alone at times. Lone working guidance was in place and staff could dial 2222 to obtain support if they felt at risk.

Staff were supported by staff networks such as the menopause, disabilities, neurodiversity and long-term conditions networks. Occupational health service and employee assistance programmes could be accessed.

Thrive well being conversations were part of the appraisal process and well being action plans were available. Staff appraisals included conversations about career development and how it could be supported. Staff could complete stress risk assessments.

The trust supported national health promotional campaigns such as Mental Health Awareness, Movember, Know your numbers and Menopause Awareness.

Staff could access safeguarding supervision and were also encouraged to access supervision if they had dealt with a difficult case.

The maternity team had 12 Professional Midwife Advocates (PMA) who supported midwives and support worker staff. (In addition – there is 1 PMA in training, with a further 2 qualified if extra resource is needed).  The PMA team met bi-monthly with optional drop in forums in-between these forums. Staff sessions could be arranged ad-hoc or as planned. Sessions could be arranged weekends and evenings by request.

The professional midwifery advocate service supported staff by provision of support after an incident, stress management, audit, statement writing, reflection on current practice, or to develop areas for improvement.

Sign-posting of internal and external well-being information was accessible via the maternity padlet, "Well-being Wednesday" emails, and through PMA sessions.

Staff were encouraged to attend culture feedback sessions, and we saw additional July 2025 sessions booked specifically for community staff. In addition, listening events had taken place between March 2024 to April 2025.

The provider recognised staff success within the service – for example, through staff awards.

Staff said the maternity Inpulse survey confirmed staff engagement had improved over the last year. The July 2025 Inpulse results report confirmed 82% of staff said they would recommend it as a place to work; this had increased from 56% in the 2024 survey. 82% (2025) of staff said they were happy for friends and family to receive care within the service. The action plan from the Inpulse/NHS Staff Survey Results 2024/2025 identified 7 themes for which actions were identified. We saw from the 18 actions, 11 actions were complete, and the remaining actions were either ongoing or underway. Themes from this survey related to staff feeling unsupported, stressed and poor staffing. Actions were identified in response to these concerns which we saw were either marked as complete or ongoing/underway.

Leaders said the outcome of the 2024 doctor’s trainee survey was very good and they noted they were above average for many domains especially clinical supervision, teamwork, handover and a supportive environment.