Calderdale Royal 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

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

We found evidence people were always treated with kindness, empathy and compassion. We checked people’s privacy and dignity was respected, and they understood their experience of how they were treated and supported mattered. We also looked for evidence 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 colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

Staff respected and upheld patient’s privacy and dignity during their care or treatment. For example, they had ‘in use’ signs above doors during gynecological exams and procedures.

Staff took time to interact with patients and those close to them respectfully and responsively. For example, nursing staff carried out welfare checks on people in the general outpatients waiting areas. They gave considerate and compassionate care to patients throughout their procedure.

Staff understood and respected the personal, cultural, social and religious needs of patients and how they related to their care. They provided compassionate care to an outpatient affected by limited public transport by facilitating a rest period before arranging a taxi home.

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.

We saw examples of holistic care planning and person-centred care provision. For example, children’s outpatients had a family support worker. They played a key role in enhancing patient experience and reducing anxiety around hospital visits. They supported anxious or fearful children through personalised preparation resources, therapeutic play, age-appropriate explanations and emotional reassurance. Their role improved child patient engagement and cooperation, and minimised distress for children and families. They contributed significantly toward creating a child-centred compassionate outpatient environment.

Department waiting areas had some dementia-friendly provisions. This helped patients who were confused or cognitively impaired and their carers or loved ones know if their appointments ran on time.

Staff used the faces scale to record pain in non-verbal patients.

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

Staff gave patients and those close to them help, emotional support and advice when they needed it. For example, they offered patients chaperones in line with the trust policy, if they wanted someone to accompany them to appointments. Comprehensive chaperone proforma documentation was included as part of the electronic patient records (EPRs). This meant outpatient notes included supportive discussions around holistic care which were important to them.

The service had started a new project using the trust’s work together get results principles. The project aimed to create central outpatient bookings hubs focused on the needs of different specialities. The first phase was due to go live in early 2026. This would make it easier and quicker to book and prioritise appointments, as well as manage capacity.

Staff understood the emotional and social impact a person’s care, treatment or condition had on their wellbeing. For example, termination of pregnancy service and early pregnancy unit patients could access a counsellor two afternoons a week for support. An outpatient with anxiety told us staff were very welcoming, helpful and put them at ease.

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.

Managers planned and organised services to meet the local population’s changing needs.

The service had systems to help care for patients in need of additional support or specialist intervention. Staff would capture any individual needs patients had at the booking stage or from pre-assessment checks. They could help patients unable to complete paperwork alone.

The OPD team accommodated outpatients’ mental health needs and mobility issues. We observed staff supporting a patient who attended clinic with anxiety.

Patients, relatives and carers told us they knew how to complain or raise concerns. The service clearly displayed information on how to do this in patient areas. For example, ENT had processes for directing enquiries. Any patient complaints or concerns were sent to managers. ENT had bespoke contacts and mailboxes for waiting list schedulers, new and follow up appointments and general enquiries.

The endoscopy service had showers, hygiene packs and towels available for patients post-procedure.

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

Staff told us they were not overworked, and their workloads were manageable.

Endoscopy had examples of department specific staff wellbeing and workforce initiatives to boost morale, culture and close team working.

Staff could access wellbeing support at the trust. They could ring a number to gain access to personalised support and had an employee assistance programme for advice, information and counselling. Menopause support was also available and advertised in women’s clinic areas.

Managers and trust leaders proactively supported staff wellbeing using health initiatives and pastoral support. The division had several wellbeing ambassadors. They supported the cascade of information and raised awareness of health initiatives. HR colleagues worked closely with the wellbeing ambassadors. They had delivered regular wellbeing drop‑in sessions to the OPD directorate.

The OPD was committed to fostering an inclusive, supportive, and engaging workplace culture. Leads actively encouraged suggestions from all OPD teams to help them continuously improve the working environment and enhance staff wellbeing.

The endoscopy service implemented five ‘you said we did’ actions. One example was staggering patient arrival times to help reduce the wait.