Nightingale Hospital Exeter

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. We checked that people’s privacy and dignity was respected and that people understood 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 was the first assessment of this service. We rated this key question as good. People were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

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 always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

Patients said staff treated them well and with kindness. We observed positive interactions between staff, volunteers and patients. All staff were kind and courteous. One cardiology patient stated, “We had an appointment at Nightingale Hospital Exeter today. It is our second time …. What a wonderful place. Accessible, clean, really super staff on all levels, everyone kind and welcoming. We were treated with respect and everything efficient and super!”.

Results from the patient survey indicated patient experience was high. One patient said “everything was excellent. Everything explained and clear with empathy and kindness. Hospital staff very kind on entry to hospital”.

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.

The service fostered a culture where people were happy to work together and patients were at the centre of the service and treated as individuals. The service made adjustments for patients and tried to accommodate individual requests for special assistance, for example there was a quiet room / prayer room which was used as a waiting room for patients who were sensitive to noise and other people.

We observed staff explaining to patients what was going to happen next. For example in ophthalmology, a patient underwent a series of tests and there were different waiting areas for the patient to wait in as these tests were carried out. Patients said they understood what was happening and were pleased to have the different tests all at the 1 hospital visit.

All staff had completed training in equality and diversity and there were focused on-site events aimed at raising dementia awareness among staff and patients. The service had partnered with a local service that supported dementia awareness.

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

People who used services were able to have support from family and friends during their consultation. We saw staff asking patients if anyone was accompanying them and if they wanted that person to be invited into the appointment. Patients were also offered the option of a chaperone and there were posters in patient areas which highlighted the service. Chaperones can help maintain a person’s dignity during intimate examinations or procedures and can provide emotional support and reassurance. In the Buttercup unit, health care assistants offered chaperone services.

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.

Patient feedback was overwhelmingly positive about their experience of the outpatient department at the Nightingale Exeter hospital and the way staff communicated with patients. One patient said communication during their appointment was excellent. They were given “a clear explanation, opportunity for questions, reassuring, competence of all clinical staff I met. Great patient care.”

Outpatient appointments times and slots were well managed. Patients said they were notified ahead of time about the appointment and provided with information about what their appointment involved. Reminders were sent to patients a few days before their appointment. Most patients we spoke with did not wait a long time before getting an outpatient appointment at the hospital.

The hospital used volunteers to help people find their way around. Some volunteers were based in the main entrance so they could help give directions. If people did not understand the directions, volunteers would walk to their destination with them. The volunteers were welcoming and friendly.

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

Staff felt respected, supported and valued. Staff we spoke with said they enjoyed working within the outpatient service and felt they contributed positively towards delivering person centred care. The staff survey results for March 2025 to May 2025 showed 80% of staff would recommend the location as a good place to work which was positive when compared against the trust average of 65.2%. When staff were asked how much they enjoyed working at the Nightingale Exeter Hospital, they rated it 4.6 out of 5.

Staff were supported with their wellbeing. The service had an employee assistance programme that offered various services to support staff with their wellbeing. The service promoted staff engagement with mental health resources and there were mental health champions to support a psychologically safe working environment. There were dedicated wellbeing events that were subsidised through the trust’s staff lottery fund.

Staff had access to break rooms, with small kitchens, including fridges in which they could store food for breaks. There was a catering van situated outside the entrance to the hospital with a variety of seating options, some of which were covered, should staff prefer to eat outside. There was a 3 year plan to enhance the provision of staff facilities on site, which included the inclusion of improved catering services on site. This would benefit both staff and visitors.