The Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt 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 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 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.

At our last assessment we rated this key question as good. At this assessment, we rated this key question as good. This meant people felt well-supported, cared for, and treated with dignity and respect.

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

We spoke with patients during our visits and received positive remarks about care. One patient told us they felt well cared for and their relative also praised the staff for the care they received.

We reviewed data from the most recent annual patient experience report which showed that The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt was rated as the best in the country for the third year in a row for patient experience.

The trust was named as 1 of just 8 organisations placed in the top band of trusts delivering results that were considered “much better than expected,” with patient experience that was substantially better than elsewhere.

The trust’s NHS friends and family test score was 98% and it received 1,071 compliments for the month of March 2025.

The service treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. Staff took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

Staff were aware of patients’ individual needs. Risk assessments and pre-assessment processes showed this. Managers felt their pre-assessment processes used a structured approach which recorded individual needs and preferences of patients while still ensuring safety. Staff applied this information to the care they gave. Patients and relatives told us they were involved in the review of their care and that staff would listen to them. Consultants would discuss all aspects of the procedures, and we were told that all staff cared about them.

We were told that family members could discuss the care and were included in discussions about discharge.

Staff understood the equality, diversity and inclusion policy which promoted equality values, religious beliefs, and the disability needs of patients. Care plans reflected these considerations.

Staff supported patients’ aspirations for their recovery. Support was given through information sharing and onward care planning for patients’ discharges including follow up appointments.

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

Staff promoted patient independence. Staff had processes which ensured patients had up to date information about the decisions involving their care.

Staff welcomed visitors and relatives of patients on the wards. Relatives said they felt welcomed by staff.

Staff and support teams had access to suitable equipment with a separate gym facility with a large hydrotherapy swimming pool to help patients in their recovery. This included early mobilisation exercises under the aid of qualified physiotherapists and occupational therapists.

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.

The service used patient feedback as a key measure of monitoring the quality of care, this was an important “health check” for the services it provided as well as promoting a strong culture of listening to patients to help improve services.

The service offered many opportunities for patients and carers to give their feedback including email, and social media. Also, local and national patient feedback surveys, NHS friends and family test survey, patient stories, patient forums, trust governor forums and comments received directly.

All feedback was shared with the clinical areas and was responded to by the communications team or the patient advice and liaison service team.

NHS friends and family test data was collected in real time using an innovative clinical research patient feedback system and patients were sent a text to invite them to complete a survey electronically after discharge or clinic appointment. For 2023/24, 24,081 patients completed the survey and 98.2% of patients (inpatients and outpatients) said they would rate their experience as good or very good. Staff were sent an email alert in real time as soon as a low score was received, and comments were immediately uploaded into the electronic system for staff to respond to within department. The results were shared with the wards, and specialty level governance quality reports with trends of low scores monitored monthly.

The annual patient experience report highlighted results showing that the trust had the cleanest wards and rooms in the NHS for the fourth year in a row. Its food was also rated the best in the country – for the 17th time in the past 18 years.

Staff responded promptly to call bells. Concerns were escalated and quickly actioned. Any concerns were shared through handover documentation at the changing of staff shifts.

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

Over 20 staff members were interviewed during this inspection to support our findings. Staff told us they felt supported, respected, valued and were proud to work at the trust. We were told local leaders supported them in carrying out the best possible patient care and treatment.

Staff could raise concerns with senior leaders and managers on the wards and were comfortable in approaching any staff member to discuss concerns. They told us this had been an improvement over the last 2 years and described other staff as being part of a family.

Staff felt able to raise concerns. Managers had an open-door policy. Freedom to speak up guardians were active within the organisation. There was a dedicated guardian section on the staff intranet and posters around the site providing information and contact details.

There was an active programme of staff briefing and engagement sessions, by newsletter, other publications and meetings held both face to face and virtually.

Staff took needed breaks despite a busy environment and had a quiet space to take these. Staff felt the workload for the service was busy but enjoyed the environment and felt they had what they needed to perform their roles.

Staff felt safe when doing their work. Staff were supported if they were struggling at work, and this had an impact on the care they delivered. Managers offered support for occupational health needs and provided signposting where needed.

Staff had easy access to personalised support that recognised the diversity of the workforce. Managers recognised the value of a diverse workforce and embraced this.

All trust staff were invited to participate in the National NHS Staff Survey between October and November 2024. The survey results were reported in a benchmark format, with the trust benchmarked against 13 other acute specialist trusts. Fifty two per cent of trust staff participated in the 2024 survey, an increase of forty questionnaires compared to the previous year.

The trust was proud that its staff recommend the hospital as a place to work, with a response rate of 75.63%, an increase of 9.74%on 2022 data.

The trust had the best result nationally (in benchmark group of 13) on the standard of care provided if a friend or relative needed treatment. Response rate 94% (2022 data – 91.2% increase of 2.8%).

The trust had recognised that there were other areas that needed further focus and attention, such as the response rate on career development opportunities, and discrimination on the grounds of protected characteristics. It had set up a monthly staff survey focus group where staff could review areas of good practice and areas that needed greater support and improvement for the workforce.