Scunthorpe General Hospital

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• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant people we spoke with felt cared for. We saw 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.

We have not awarded this service a score for Caring.

Find out about when we will not publish a key question score and what we look at when we assess Caring.

The service always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity.

Staff treated patients with kindness and compassion. We observed staff protecting patient dignity during interactions by closing doors, curtains and using privacy screens. We spoke with ten patients who described staff as kind, caring and respectful during their care.

Staff told us they treated all individuals with protected characteristics with equal respect and kindness. Staff could describe protected characteristics, such as disability, race or religion.

There was a quiet room designed to provide a calm space for patients and families experiencing distress or receiving bad news. This room offered comfortable seating and soft lighting.

Staff and leaders reported receiving positive feedback from patients, relative and carers who described them as professional, passionate, and dedicated. Two patients and three relatives that we spoke with commented how staff were “very caring’, ‘polite’, and ‘kind’. The 2024 inpatient survey results showed 97% of patients felt they were treated with dignity and respect.

The department had a highlighted board where individuals received positive feedback for their dedicated and caring approach.

We observed several patient interactions and saw staff embodied the services core values of kindness and teamwork to deliver patient-centred care.

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 demonstrated individualised care by adapting their approach to meet the specific needs of patient groups, including those with disabilities and complex additional requirements. Staff told us how they adjusted their clinical interactions to ensure patient comfort and safety. For example, we observed a nurse who demonstrated kindness and patience with an elderly patient who had dementia, by adjusting their communication and ensuring they had extra time to explain the care required.

The service had access to specific tools to overcome common barriers to care, ensuring treatment was personalised. For example, staff told us they had access to cards which contained pictures of everyday fundamental needs such as a drink or the toilet, to aid communication with patients who were non-verbal.

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

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

We saw examples of staff supporting patients to enable choice and participation in decision making regarding their care.

The service provided patients with multiple avenues to exercise their independence, choice, and control over their care. Staff could describe how young adults, and their parents were supported to ensure patients’ voices were heard. For example, we saw posters around the department about how to provide feedback on care, or how to raise concerns if a person was not happy about the care they were receiving.

Staff spoke about how they supported patients with mental health needs to understand treatment decisions. They kept them informed of the next steps in their assessments with mental health services to ensure they could inform them of their treatment decisions.

The 2024 inpatient survey showed some improvements, for example 81% of patients reported positively about staff helping with communication needs, this is up from 65% in the 2022 inpatient survey.

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.

Staff consistently assessed and addressed any specific risk issues, such as falls or pressure ulcers. We observed staff assessing, completing and updating care records following ongoing assessment of patients within their care. We reviewed ten nursing and medical records and found consistency in risk assessments, actions to mitigate risks and clear documentation.

We saw that pain levels were routinely record and responded to appropriately and in a timely manner. Pain relief was highlighted in patient feedback, for example three patients we spoke with, told us they had received pain relief in a timely manner.

We observed consistent intentional rounding for patients who had been waiting in excess of 4 hours. Patients had access to nutrition and hydration. The 2024 inpatient survey showed 77% of patients reported being access to food and drink, this is an improvement on the 2022 inpatient survey results which stood at 58%.

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

Staff we spoke with told us they felt respected, supported and valued. Staff felt the department based senior leadership were approachable and invested in their wellbeing. Staff we spoke with were positive about their working environment and the opportunities and support available to them. There were staff recognition boards and staff could nominate each other for good practice.

Managers consistently supported all staff to develop through yearly, constructive appraisals of their work. Managers held regular team meetings and regular appraisals. The data provided showed that medical and nursing staff appraisal completion rates met the trust target.

The department had a staff committee which had a range of roles.

Staff had a designated staffroom for breaks. We were told staff got regular and uninterrupted breaks. The staff room had a TV, equipped kitchen area and was a space away from work based pressures.

Staff had access to support for their own physical and emotional health needs through an occupational health service.