Isle of Wight NHS Trust

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• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

The evidence showed a good standard. 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 attitudes and behaviours when interacting with patients showed that they were discreet, respectful and responsive, providing patients with help, emotional support and advice when they needed it.

Staff supported patients to understand and manage their care, treatment or condition. They directed patients to other services when appropriate and, if required, supported them to access those services.

Patients said staff treated them well and behaved appropriately towards them. Feedback was consistently positive from patients and family members we spoke with as part of our assessment. A patient described crew members as caring and considerate and a family member told us they were pleased with the level of care given and the genuine empathy shown by the crew, making them feel ‘at ease’.

Staff understood the individual needs of patients, including their personal, cultural, social and religious needs. They gave information in a way that patients understood, taking time to check their understanding and their wishes.

Staff said they could raise concerns about disrespectful, discriminatory or abusive behaviour or attitudes towards patients without fear of the consequences. Staff told us when concerns were raised, managers took appropriate action.

Staff kept people’s information confidential. They took action to preserve people’s dignity and we observed staff consistently being kind, patient and respectful. We also saw staff take steps to ensure patient’s dignity before transporting to hospital, for example, by offering to support them to change clothing to ensure they could travel comfortably.

This service scored 80 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The evidence showed a good standard. 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 attitudes and behaviours when interacting with patients showed that they were discreet, respectful and responsive, providing patients with help, emotional support and advice when they needed it.

Staff supported patients to understand and manage their care, treatment or condition. They directed patients to other services when appropriate and, if required, supported them to access those services.

Patients said staff treated them well and behaved appropriately towards them. Feedback was consistently positive from patients and family members we spoke with as part of our assessment. A patient described crew members as caring and considerate and a family member told us they were pleased with the level of care given and the genuine empathy shown by the crew, making them feel ‘at ease’.

Staff understood the individual needs of patients, including their personal, cultural, social and religious needs. They gave information in a way that patients understood, taking time to check their understanding and their wishes.

Staff said they could raise concerns about disrespectful, discriminatory or abusive behaviour or attitudes towards patients without fear of the consequences. Staff told us when concerns were raised, managers took appropriate action.

Staff kept people’s information confidential. They took action to preserve people’s dignity and we observed staff consistently being kind, patient and respectful. We also saw staff take steps to ensure patient’s dignity before transporting to hospital, for example, by offering to support them to change clothing to ensure they could travel comfortably.

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.

The service made adjustments for patients such as meeting people’s specific communication needs. Staff ensured that patients could obtain information in a form that was accessible to them. Staff could access communication support cards with common phrases to aid communication. White boards were available to record information where patients may struggle to communicate verbally. Ambulance crews were also able to access a language translation and interpretation services if needed.

The service ensured that all staff were trained to understand and respond appropriately to the needs of people with protected characteristics, in line with the Equality Act 2010. Training relating to equality, diversity, inclusion, and personalised care was delivered through the service’s ‘workshop Wednesday’ and ‘training Tuesday’ programmes. Training included supporting the recognition of individual needs and actions to address them. This included equality aspects such as communication adjustments, cultural considerations, disability awareness and gender identity.

Staff told us they had access to ‘easy read’ documents. For example, on how patients could complain or provide feedback on the service. There was also a learning disability nurse within the trust who staff could access if needed.

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

We observed ambulance crews enabling people to have choice and control and maintain independence as much as possible. They asked questions about what patients were usually able to do, for example, in relation to their mobility or aspects of self-care. We saw that staff gave patients information about what they were doing, and about the next steps when transporting them to hospital. We observed them encouraging patients and family members to ask questions and voice any concerns so that they felt well informed and as in control as possible.

Feedback from patients about their experience of the service was positive about the professionalism and care afforded by the crews. Patients felt staff were sensitive to their needs and took time to reassure and inform them.

We saw that staff asked about patient’s wishes for transporting them to hospital. Staff ensured patients understood they had choice and control over decision making. They were given information to support decision making and there were pathways to ensure follow up support was offered when patients chose to stay at home.

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 identified and responded to changing risks to patients. They were aware of and dealt with any specific risk issues, such as people falling and people’s health deteriorating and planned for these accordingly. Staff identified and appropriately monitored people at risk of falls by undertaking specific risk assessments where appropriate.

We observed staff providing support and comfort in the way they interacted with patients and family members. Staff understood the impact of stress and anxiety and did what they could to minimise the impact of these. We observed staff taking time to support people and respond appropriately to their needs. They consistently treated them with kindness and compassion.

The service listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Feedback was collated using the Friends and Family Test (FFT) and we viewed data collected between October 2025 and March 2026. We saw an overall satisfaction score of 93% during this time.

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

Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They told us they enjoyed working for the service and as part of the team. Staff said they felt supported by managers, and they had opportunities to access support for their wellbeing. They had access to an employee assistance programme, talking therapies, pastoral support, staff benefits and a cycle to work scheme.

The ambulance station was designed to include suitable staff areas for breaks and reflection space. There was a quiet room with reclining chairs and a staff outside space that was maintained by the staff themselves. Additional support systems were in place. For example, staff could access kayaks and paddle boards on loan from the service to support recreational activities. The service had a team participating in local emergency service sailing competition on the island. There was also a ‘care dog’ scheme where staff from across the service and volunteers brought dogs in to provide support. Staff could request this when experiencing a difficult shift or following a traumatic event. We were told that this helped staff to wind down from stressful situations. Staff told us they valued this initiative and were happy to contribute. The service also provided equipment such as kayaks and paddleboards for staff to use for leisure activities.

Staff had access to support for their own physical and emotional health needs through an occupational health service. In addition, clinical support officers (CSOs) undertook debriefs with staff and signposted staff to Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) practitioners. TRiM is a peer-led support system designed to promote the mental and emotional wellbeing of staff who may have been exposed to potentially traumatic incidents during their duties.

We were told the service’s staff sickness and absence were somewhat above the average for the provider at 8%. The service had introduced a ‘welfare Wednesday’ session that included checking in with staff who were absent to ensure their wellbeing, including those on phased returns to work to enable proactive review of any support they may require.

The provider recognised staff success within the service. An example of this was through staff awards which included an ‘employee of the month’ recognition. Staff working within the service had achieved this recognition.

Staff appraisals included conversations about career development and how it could be supported. Paramedics had annual individual learning plan (ILPs) days where they worked with CSOs on their development and agreed personal development plans for the coming year. Staff told us they had opportunities to develop, for example, in relation to advanced practice and skills development. There were also opportunities for staff to attend ad hoc skills training, for example, critical care paramedics told us they provided weekend skills training updates for staff.