Solihull 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 and 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.

People received care and support that was compassionate and kind. Staff cared for individuals and each other in a way that exceeded expectations and fully respected their privacy and dignity. Staff demonstrated genuine empathy for the people they cared for. Staff had a strong understanding of people’s human rights to dignity and respect and were able to act creatively to uphold these rights. There was a culture of kindness and respect between colleagues and a strong sense of protecting health and wellbeing of staff.

This service scored 90 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People were valued as individuals. They were always treated with kindness, empathy and compassion by everyone in the service their privacy and dignity was always respected. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

People described the service and the staff who worked there as being exceptionally kind, considerate and empathetic. People’s wishes and choices were considered and fully understood, and the service made every effort to uphold these. We heard staff speak to patients in a friendly and kind manner. For example, “Hello my lovely, can I take you down for your appointment.” One patient told us, “I’m looked after well…it’s like a family here, they couldn’t do any more for us.”

People told us staff greeted them upon arrival and were friendly, caring, and kind. Comments about staff included, “staff are lovely” and “they fully explained what was happening next and I’m very satisfied with everything.”

Patients told us they had always had good experiences at the hospital, they felt “listened to” and found staff “obliging and helpful.”

Patients were asked to give feedback on their care through the NHS Friends and Family Test (FFT). The FFT is an important feedback tool for people using the NHS to support the fundamental principle that people who use the NHS should have the opportunity to provide feedback on their experience. Patients were asked to complete a paper version of the FFT containing 15 questions designed to help staff identify what was working well and what could be improved. Outpatients performed well in the most recent FFT data, with 96% of responses deemed positive. However, the number of responses was small compared to the total eligible patients. For outpatients, in December 2024 the trust received 854 responses, from an eligible patient base of nearly 73,000. This was equivalent to 1.2% which was far below of the national response rate for outpatients of 13%.

An audit of privacy, dignity, and communication was regularly completed in the main outpatient department. The audit involved 10 observations of staff and patient interactions. The audit was completed by staff observing and giving feedback to each other. Managers told us this process worked well as it helped staff reflect on their own behaviours as well as the behaviour of others.

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 recognised if people had different needs from their cultural, personal, religious or social history. These were understood and met where possible. For example, if people wanted to meet a religious obligation, such as praying staff could direct them to a designated prayer room. As well as a multi-faith centre for prayer and reflection people could access support from the trust’s chaplaincy team.

Patients were asked for their preferred name so this could be used throughout their appointment. We saw staff introducing themselves and using patients first names if this was their preferred choice.

We observed staff explaining to patients what was going to happen next. For example, healthcare assistants told patients they were going to weigh them, measure their height, and take their blood pressure. They explained they would return the patient to the waiting area before they were called to see the doctor.

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

There were posters in patient areas highlighting the chaperone service and informing people of how to request a chaperone. Chaperones were used to help maintain a person’s dignity during intimate examinations or procedures and could provide emotional support and reassurance.

We saw staff asking patients if anyone was accompanying them and if they wanted that person to be invited into the appointment.

Staff asked patients if they needed support, for example to walk from the waiting room to the clinic room, rather than assuming they required support.

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 and volunteers gave patients and those close to them help, emotional support and advice when they needed it. We heard feedback from a patient to a volunteer. The patient said, “thank you so much for welcoming me when I came in. Your smile meant so much, I was feeling really anxious and you made me feel so much better.”

There were vending machines and water coolers in the waiting areas for patients to use. If people had to be in the department for longer than expected staff offered them hot and cold drinks.

The ophthalmology waiting room had extra lights to increase the amount of light during darker periods to improve vision for people with poor eyesight by minimising shadows and glare.

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.

Staff in ophthalmology monitored patients who did not attend their appointments. The department held a register of vulnerable patients overseen by a failsafe officer. These patients were flagged so they could be contacted the day before their appointment to remind them what time their appointment was scheduled for the following day. If a vulnerable patient did not attend 4 consecutive appointments the failsafe officer would investigate the reasons for this. In the first instance they would ring the patient to assess the reasons for not attending, including their living situation and cognition. This outcome of the assessment could result in a number of actions being taken to help the patient attend their appointment, including making a referral to an adult social care team or contacting the person’s next of kin.

We saw a doctor making a detailed follow up plan with a patient, and doctors and other staff giving anxious patients lots of time to ask questions. Patients receiving bad news during their clinic appointment were given extra time to ask questions and receive emotional support from staff. For example, in the breast care clinic, after their consultation patients were given somewhere private to sit and have a cup of tea or coffee with a member of staff or trained volunteer so they could ask questions and be offered reassurance. There was also a separate exit, so people did not have to walk through busy waiting areas if they were upset.

Text messages could only be sent out in English, but letters were sent out in patient’s first language whenever possible. Details of how to access interpreters was included in appointment letters and on the trust website.

Staff in the main outpatient department told us occasionally a patient waiting for patient transport to take them home would still be in the department when the department was getting ready to close. They said they would always wait with patients in this instance until the transport team arrived.

There was a process for nurses to check all patient areas towards the end of the day to identify if all patients waiting for transport had been collected, and to liaise with the patient transport teams if there were any patients still waiting.

Cancer services employed a cancer information support office to support people to apply for benefits, blue badges for people with mobility issues related to cancer, and medical exemption certificates. The support officer could also provide a private space for people with cancer or their carers to talk and ask questions.

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

The hospital had a wellbeing hub situated next to the main outpatient department. The hub was covered by a minimum of 2 members of staff who had received training in how to support colleagues. The hub staff offered people the opportunity to talk, to sit quietly, and/or the opportunity to use the resources.

Staff using the hub were offered free hot and cold drinks and biscuits. The resources available included a small library, jigsaws, and a variety of mindfulness activities including colouring books and games. An art session had been run in the hub, along with menopause support sessions, and other wellbeing groups. There was a focus on offering staff stress and resilience training, and hub staff could help make referrals to other services including a debit management service. We saw thank you cards to the staff at the hub for the support they had offered staff and for always being available to talk.

Staff described a range of wellbeing resources they could access through the trust intranet including financial advice, debt management, and a counselling service.

Staff experiencing symptoms of the menopause could get quick access a menopause clinic through an occupational health referral. The trust provided two menopause clinics each week, both delivered at Solihull Hospital's outpatient department. One of the clinics was dedicated for trust staff to access. The other was for patients, but when required staff members could also be accommodated.