Runcorn Road Dialysis Unit

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 people’s privacy and dignity was respected, that they understood 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.

This was the first assessment of this service and we rated it good for caring. This meant people were consistently treatment with kindness, compassion and respect.

People were treated with kindness and compassion and staff were exceptional at truly respecting and valuing people as individuals. Staff were motivated to offer care that was kind and promoted people’s privacy and dignity. Staff respected and valued the totality of people’s needs and always took personal, cultural, social and religious needs into account. They supported people’s preferences and ensured they had choice in their care. Staff responded to people in a timely way. The service supported staff wellbeing.

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.

The service always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. People were always valued as individuals. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

People we spoke with told us staff always treated them with dignity, kindness and respect. Feedback was consistently positive. It included how the atmosphere at the service was friendly, caring, professional and helpful. People told us staff exceeded their expectations in terms of the care and compassion they demonstrated. A person’s relative told us nothing was too much trouble for staff and as well as supporting people receiving treatment and care, staff were very caring towards family members. A patient described the atmosphere as ‘like a family’.

We observed staff interacting with people with kindness and consistently found they demonstrated genuine empathy for the people they cared for. They were discreet and responsive and took time to interact with consideration and respect. Staff explained treatment and interventions in a way that was easy to understand.

Treatment decision making was patient centred. People were consistently treated as partners in their care. We saw support for patient’s emotional, psychological, social and spiritual wellbeing carried equal importance for staff responsible for planning and delivering their treatment and care.

We observed colleagues interacting well with each other, demonstrating respect and teamwork in meeting patient’s needs.

The service treated people as individuals and was exceptional in how they made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. The service took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics. Staff took action to understand different cultural aspects of people’s lives and adapted their approach and communication to meet people’s needs.

Staff demonstrated a good understanding of the personal, cultural, social and religious needs of people. We observed staff interacting with people in a way that took account of these needs. For example, we observed staff greeting people in a way that showed respect for their culture. Staff had been invited by people and their families to use the terms uncle and aunty when greeting elders.

There was a good understanding of the additional needs of people with protected characteristics and those identified as being vulnerable. The service had adapted trust-wide inpatient pathways for people receiving haemodialysis who had a learning disability, autism, dementia, poor mental health and young people aged between 16 and 25. Staff made use of individual patient passports created by the patient and / or their carer. Each patient had a named nurse who carried out monthly risk assessments and a review of the care plan, including the use of the patient passport and ensuring care was patient centred and individualised. This helped to ensure staff understood individual patient strengths, abilities and aspirations.

Staff made reasonable adjustments to help people. This included providing dialysis treatment to people requiring a bed, as well as those receiving treatment using a dialysis chair. Staff had identified a dedicated quiet space for people to pray. They understood different relevant religious observations and how they impacted people to ensure where possible these needs were prioritised.

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

Staff worked with individual people to promote self-care. This included people being involved in monitoring their weight and other physical observations that were a routine part of their dialysis treatment. In addition, people were encouraged to take on self-care within the scope of their abilities. This included people receiving education and support through the home dialysis team so they could manage their dialysis at home.

National patient reported experience measure data from 2024 showed shared decision making scored the lowest in terms of patient experience within the trust, although the score was above the national average. We saw the service had developed an action plan in response to the results. This included actions such as supporting people with self-needling where appropriate, as well as other actions to increase their independence, choice and control.

There were 29 people receiving dialysis at home and 1 patient receiving training to do so. There were clear home dialysis and shared care standard operating procedures. All people suitable for home dialysis and shared care received a comprehensive assessment and followed a competency based home haemodialysis programme.

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.

We observed staff responding to people’s needs quickly. There were always staff at the nurses’ station which overlooked the dialysis bays. We saw staff checked people’s comfort when providing treatment and acted if needed. In addition, staff responded to changes in people’s needs, including changes to treatment times and schedules when needed.

People told us staff were always responsive to requests for help and they would act quickly to ensure patient’s needs were met. They had access to call bells and staff responded quickly to requests for help and support.

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

Staff had access to rest areas and told us they took regular breaks. We were told leaders and team members supported each other to include flexible working around childcare and other caring responsibilities. Staff supported each other and participated in group activities and charity events as a team.

The trust provided services to support staff wellbeing. This included access to counselling, menopause support, sports and fitness support, carers support, wellness and smoking cessation services. Additional support was available through the trust’s wellbeing team, including advice on domestic violence and benefits and finance. In addition, there were various staff networks providing support and a sense of community to staff, including women’s, men’s, LGBTQ+, disability and neurodiversity networks.