Broadgreen 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

We rated this key question good. Patients were treated with kindness and compassion. Staff made every effort to protect the privacy and dignity of patients and treated them as individuals by supporting their choice and preferences. Patients were encouraged to maintain relationships with family and friends. The service proactively supported staff wellbeing through several initiatives.

This service scored 85 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The evidence showed an exceptional standard. The service was exceptional at treating people with kindness, empathy and compassion and in how they respected people’s privacy and dignity. Staff always treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

Patients we spoke with told us they felt listened to and cared for. One patient responded, ‘They couldn’t find fault with any doctor or nurse.’ Another told us they wanted to apply for a job here as everyone was so friendly and approachable and enjoyed their work.

The division provided us with information from family and friends test (FFT) conducted in August 2023 which highlighted the trust overall scored 10th out of 120 acute trusts for overall patient experience, and 21st out of all 131 trusts including specialist trusts.

Staff demonstrated a good knowledge of caring in difficult circumstances such as end-of-life care and care for those living with dementia. Staff described how they used the Swan Model of Care, an end-of-life and bereavement care model, to provide care and treatment in such circumstances.

Staff told us the culture and understanding of those living with dementia was enhancing knowledge and understanding of others. By working collaboratively with stakeholders, charities, through research, and with universities, staff knowledge was improving about how they could best provide care for those living with dementia. A dementia friendly garden space was under development at the time of inspection and staff hoped this would help people stay connected with the outdoors.

The division audited the “this is me” booklet to ensure it was being used and that the patient’s voice was documented and heard. Staff told us they were trialing the use of coloured patient identity bands and badges to support communication needs and enhance the level of understanding and compassion provided to patients.

Overall, we observed that staff were skilled with communicating with patients. We observed staff actively engaging in activities with patients and actively listening to them.

Call buzzers were answered swiftly across all wards. We did not observe any boarded patients. Those patients who had an infection risk were managed well inside rooms with PPE readily available for staff.

Staff were motivated and felt respected in the workplace and empowered to provide the best possible individualised care that was kind considerate and promoted people's dignity.

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.

Patients told us they felt listened to and had their needs met. They felt supported and spoke highly of staff. Medical day unit patient experience questionnaires showed 100% positive feedback from patients in December 2024 from 75 patients who participated. Others on wards told us ‘They are marvellous; they take their time. They have let me have my own blankets from home, so I don't feel so homesick'; 'We have a good chat especially in the morning when they are giving me a wash. They do anything they can to help. I feel like they know me well now because they talk to me.’

Staff were knowledgeable about how to adapt care for individual patients. Medical day unit staff asked patients to call ahead with their estimated time of arrival so when they arrived the treatment was set up and ready to go. This allowed people to receive their treatment and then carry on with their normal day to day activities, including going to work. We observed staff providing individualised care according to both personal choice and risk assessments having involved the service user and their families in those conversations. Information was available in a varied format and staff were able to access interpreters both on the phone and in person when they needed too. Posters were present on the ward for patients to access information in different languages.

The trust had processes in place to access the chaplains to provide spiritual care out of hours. The Compassionate Companion Programme awareness and training was offered to all staff and volunteers. The programme provided compassionate, community based, non-medical support for people and their loved ones experiencing life-limiting conditions, including severe frailty and dementia.

The trust had a multicultural team who help inform staff of events of cultural significance.

The LQA assessed end-of-life care provision and person-centred audits. For end-of-life care 6 wards were ranked gold, 3 were ranked silver and for person-centred care 7 wards were ranked gold and 2 ranked silver.

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 wellbeing.

Patients on the medical day unit felt happy with their care and were offered refreshments appropriately.

Patient feedback was mixed in relation to food provision. Some described it as excellent, and others felt it could be improved. Staff told us they were working with food preparation staff to reduce the portion sizes and types of food available.

Feedback from all patients who told us they had mobility or falls risks were that staff were readily available to support them, and they did not feel rushed when trying to mobilise.

Staff used the ‘this is me’ documentation widely and encourage patient participation in activities.

During our site visit we observed appropriate equipment such as hoists available to help staff promote independence and mobility. We saw an activities room supporting people patients with regular observations during the activities.

Risk assessments were carried out regularly and changes to care plans made where indicated.

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.

All patients we spoke with told us if they used their call bell and it was responded too quickly. They told us if they needed pain relief it was given when it was asked for. Patients described a clean environment and described staff that were caring, open and that listened and responded to their needs.

Staff understood the importance of identifying needs, views and wishes and aimed to prioritise this. The staff told us how they used assessment tools to determine if needs have changed and understood how to act on this. Staff told us they were able to access specialist teams like SaLT (Speak and Language Therapy) quickly to support patients changing needs.

We observed good examples of staff attentively caring for patients and sharing moments of levity in challenging circumstances. We observed staff de-escalate difficult behaviours using communication techniques. Staff gave patients the time they needed to move or mobilise despite wards being busy and having conflicting demands on them.

Wards used NEWS2 (National Early Warning score 2) to assess deterioration, wellbeing and pain scores formed part of this. A non-verbal tool was also available. Staff applied sepsis pathways where necessary to ensure swift responses.

The evidence showed an exceptional standard. The service always cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and was exceptional at supporting and enabling staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Staff told us they managed to take their breaks, and we observed scheduled breaks being facilitated during our visit.

Managers told us they listened to concerns and acted on them. They gave an example of the use of new medication pumps which were not working as anticipated. Staff reported the issues, and the pumps were withdrawn and checked, then better directions of use formulated, staff were then better educated on how to use them.

The culture on wards was reported positively with multidisciplinary working embedded and respectful in its approach. Staff reported no concerns around diversity and acknowledged the hospital was demographically a diverse place both for staff and patients. Wellbeing initiatives were available to staff and advertised. Feedback to senior leaders took place regularly.

Each site in this trust had access to their own staff network. In addition to this, the hospital group also offered network support groups, including LGBTQ+, Neurodiversity, Menopause & Women's Health, the Women's Network, and the Ethnic Minorities Network. These groups provided safe spaces for staff to connect, share experiences, and access relevant support. Each Staff Network had an executive sponsor. Staff could access direct intervention through confidential counselling and psychological support services for those experiencing significant distress on referral from occupational health. The trust worked with Rugby League Cares which also provided group sessions, mixed and male only and targeted team support to improve team dynamics, build personal resilience, and challenge negative coping strategies. Neurodiversity support was recognised as an essential aspect of mental health care. Staff could access one-to-one Occupational Therapy (OT) sensory assessments and interventions, along with specialist training for managers and teams was provided by OT. The trust had worked with a charity to introduce neurodiversity training to better support neurodiverse staff with adjustments and considerations.