Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

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

This means we looked for evidence that the service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated as Good.

This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

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.

The service treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity.

We observed staff visiting a patient within their own home. The staff member was discreet and responsive when caring for the patient. During the assessment we saw that staff took time to interact with patients and those close to them in a respectful and considerate way.

Carers and patients gave positive feedback about the service. One patient commented that staff were always respectful and kind. A carer commented on how compassionate and caring staff were towards their mother during such a worrying time.

Staff understood and respected the individual needs of each patient including, cultural, social and religious needs of patients and how they may relate to care needs.

The service treated people as individuals and made sure their care, support and treatment met their needs and preferences, taking into account their strengths, abilities, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

The service made adjustments for disabled patients and considered patients’ specific communication needs. Staff gave examples of using alternative communication methods such as lip reading and ensuring that patients had access to communication devices such as hearing aids.

Staff gave patients and carers help, emotional support and advice when they needed it. Staff understood the emotional and social impact that a person’s care, treatment or condition had on their wellbeing and on those close to them. Staff referred carers to Camden carers, which provided support for carers needs, such as emotional or financial support. The service also attended the morning nursing and therapy handover meeting to identify which carers could access their service for support.

Staff undertook training on breaking bad news and demonstrated empathy when having difficult conversations. The service worked closely with the palliative care team and staff received palliative care training in October 2025, which was delivered by a palliative care medical consultant.

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

Staff ensured that patients were empowered to make a decision surrounding their care and treatment. During a home visit we observed during our assessment, we saw that staff explained the concerns and potential care and treatment options available to the patient and their carer, allowing the patient to decide. Staff then explained the next steps to the patient after communicating with the patient’s GP.

Staff promoted patients’ independence as far as possible. Patients’ needs were assessed including their mobility, and they were supplied with equipment to maintain and further promote their independence, such as walking frames.

One patient commented that staff kindness towards him made him feel like a person who mattered with dignity, this meant everything to him as he had been struggling with the loss of independence.

The service listened to and understood patient’s needs, views and wishes. They responded to these in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

Staff followed patients’ views and wishes when meeting their needs. Staff tried to ensure that patients were comfortable whilst receiving treatment at home or in the community.

Staff identified and responded to changing risks to, or posed by, patients. The process for escalating risks involved seeking advice from the patient’s GP or consultant or calling the London Ambulance service if there were urgent risks that needed immediate escalation. Staff could also access an Urgent Care GP service for out of hours medical advice.

Staff followed patients’ views and wishes as far as possible whilst meeting their needs. Staff responded to patients showing signs of distress or pain. Staff worked closely with palliative care services to ensure that patients were comfortable.

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

Staff told us that they felt respected, supported and valued. Staff said they felt positive and proud about working for the provider and their team.

Staff said managers cared about their wellbeing. Staff had recently attended an away day. Managers had introduced a staff wellbeing group. This looked at different ways that the service could further promote the staff’s wellbeing, such as introducing social calendar events.

Staff had access to support for their own physical and emotional health needs through an occupational health service. Staff gave us examples of flexible working arrangements that were in place until they recovered from a long-term health condition.

Staff appraisals included conversations about career development and how it could be supported. Staff gave us examples of how they were supported to further develop their career, such as being supported to complete a master’s degree.

Staff described their roles as rewarding. The provider recognised staff success within the service. Positive patient and carer feedback were shared with staff individually and within the monthly staff meeting.

Staff informed us that the office working environment can get very hot in the summer. Managers introduced temporary measures to address this, such as booking air-conditioned rooms in a different location for staff to use. Senior managers were working to address this, as they were tenants of a neighbouring trust. This appeared to be part of a wider plan to develop the site.