Royal Derby 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 assessed all quality statements within effective. Following this assessment effective is rated good.

Staff treated patients with kindness and compassion. They always respected people’s privacy and dignity. Staff understood the individual needs of patients and adapted care to support them.

Staff were responsive to peoples needs and used nationally recognised tools to assess patient’s conditions and act accordingly.

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.

People told us staff were kind and caring, always available and that there was nothing they would not do for them.

We observed staff respecting people’s privacy and dignity by drawing curtains when delivering care. Patients were covered with sheets and blankets to maintain their dignity.

Staff delivered care to sedated patients, with kindness and compassion talking to the patient and explaining the interaction.

Staff interacted with relatives with compassion and care. They answered questions relating to the patient’s clinical condition and care plan.

Staff recognised when a patient was approaching end of life the unit had filled memory boxes which would be given to their relatives. These boxes included items such as handprints. Staff told us that they would also help relatives celebrate birthdays with their relatives whilst they were on the unit. Weddings for patients had also been facilitated.

There was a private relative’s room which was equipped with comfortable seating and information leaflets.

Staff considered people’s individual needs and were sensitive and compassionate when providing care and treatment.

Care was coordinated with external services such as social services, when required.

Staff were able to support patients living with dementia and delirium. We saw evidence of appropriate intervention and the unit had a ‘dementia box’ which contained items such as twiddle mats for people to use.

Consultants involved patients in discussions about their care. They allowed patients to ask questions and explained the rationale behind decisions around their care.

People had the opportunity to speak with the medical team caring for them. Staff kept them informed throughout the episode of care.

Patients and their relatives were invited to a follow up clinic post discharge to discuss their care and treatment and so that ongoing support could be provided.

Management were present on the unit and patients and their relatives were able to speak with them if required.

Patients were repositioned regularly to prevent pressure sores. Staff evidenced this in patient records we reviewed, and we observed this whilst we were on the unit.

Staff assessed patient pain levels using the critical care pain observation tool. When patients displayed increased levels of pain this was addressed in a timely manner.

The unit had a relative’s room which could be used should time away from the unit be required.

The unit assessed patients using the Richmond Agitation-Sedation Score to evaluate the level of alertness and agitation in patients, this allowed them to optimise treatment based on a patient’s needs and using best practice.

The nurse’s station on both sides of the unit was in the centre of the room allowing full oversight of all beds.

Staff enjoyed working on the unit and that they worked well as a team. Management had a visible presence and staff felt that they could approach them with any concerns. They felt supported by management.

Staff experienced a high level of violence and aggression from patients. They reported these incidents on the trust’s incident reporting system and that they were supported when incidents occurred. We saw evidence of this support with posters detailing post violence and aggression peer psychological support in staff areas. Staff were able to access support from occupational health following any incident related to stress, violence and aggression.