East London NHS Foundation Trust

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

Our overall rating of responsive has stayed the same. Community Health Services for adults were rated as good.

This service scored 79 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Staff ensured a strong, visible, person-centred culture. People’s individual needs and preferences were at the heart of the service.

Care plans were person-centred and highly individualised, involving patients and family members to understand people’s preferences, needs and circumstances. Throughout our visits, we observed staff providing clear explanations to support patients to make informed choices about their care and treatment, promoting independence and self‑management wherever possible.

Staff responded promptly to patients’ requests. For example, when a patient felt their wound was getting worse, staffrearrangedthe appointment,so they were seen the same day.

In Newham CHS, the night team had identified an improvement need following feedback from bereaved families. Staff felt uncomfortable asking families to complete the ‘how well did we do?’ feedback form at a sensitive time. In response, the team developed a common questions leaflet, to provide clear information and support. The leaflet was in draft form and awaiting review by the Quality Assurance Group.

Staff understood the diverse health and care needs of people and the local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity.

Managers planned and organised services, so they met the changing needs of the local population. The district nursing team operated from 8am to 8pm daily, and the urgent community response (UCR) service operated until 10pm. Clinical leads provided an on-call night service for patients already on the caseload, such as those receiving end of life care or experiencing blocked catheters, before handing over to the staff teams the following morning. Community therapy teams operated during normal working hours.

The service relieved pressure on other departments when they could treat patients in a day. Staff worked hard to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions. They provided daily support to local emergency departments (ED) and clinical decision units to identify patients who could be safely diverted from hospital.

The service had systems in place to support patients who required additional help or specialist intervention. Advanced care planning teams supported patients with end-of-life care and ensured that staff were available at all times.

Managers monitored and acted quickly to minimise missed appointments. When nurses were unable to attend a home visit, this was recorded as a deferred visit and reported as an incident. Deferred visits were rare across all locality teams, as staff consistently prioritised caseloads to ensure patients were seen. Any visit at risk of being deferred was identified early, escalated to a manager, and alternative arrangements were made so the patient was seen the same day.

Managers ensured that patients who did not attend appointments were contacted. Staff followed up with patients who did not answer during home visits and escalated concerns to the manager and safeguarding team when appropriate.

Facilities and premises were appropriate for the services being delivered. Staff made reasonable adjustments to help patients access services.

Staff supported patients living with dementia and learning disabilities by using ‘This is me’ documents and patient passports.

Staff provided appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that we tailor to individual needs.

The service complied with the Accessible Information Standard.

Staff ensured that patients could obtain information on treatments, local services, patients’ rights, how to complain and so on. The information provided was in a form accessible to patients.

Staff ensured carers, families and commissioners were regularly updated about the patient’s progress.

Staff made it easy for people to share feedback and ideas or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. They involved them in decisions about their care and told them what changed as a result.

Patients knew how to complain or raise concerns. Feedback from patients and carers was consistently very positive, with people describing staff as kind, compassionate and respectful, and noting that staff took time to listen and build trusting relationships. QR codes were included in appointment letters so patients and families could easily give feedback on their care.

Staff knew how to handle complaints appropriately. They addressed formal complaints within the expected timescales and when delays occurred, patients were kept informed. Clinical leads and managers tracked complaints and actions taken in response. Common themes included understanding of care, poor communication and waiting times. When patients raised concerns or complained they received timely feedback.

Staff received feedback on the outcome of complaint investigations and acted on the findings. In Tower Hamlets CHS, a complaint about poor communication between staff and patients’ carers and family members led the service to review and update the patient folder. This resulted in clearer written messages and the introduction of a visitor contract to ensure families and carers were kept informed about their loved one’s care.

Staff protected patients who raised concerns or complaints from discrimination and harassment.

Staff made sure that everyone can access the care, support and treatment they need when they need it.

Managers monitored waiting times and made sure patients could access services when needed and received treatment within agreed timeframes and national targets. Within the UCR service, staff aimed to respond to urgent calls within two hours. At the time of time of the inspection, all three teams were meeting this target (90%), with compliance between 93% and 96%.

Referral to assessment times were monitored across all three localities between April 2025 and January 2026. In Bedfordshire CHS the average time to initial assessment ranged between three and five days, with the longest wait recorded in August 2025. In Newham CHS, waiting times were generally shorter averaging around two days between April 2025 and September 2025, increasing to a peak of four days in November 2025. In Tower Hamlets CHS, times varied between two and five days, with the longest wait recorded in May 2025. The wait times remained consistent across services.

Staff within the extended primary care teams, were expected to meet a target of completing assessments within five days of receiving a referral. The trust target was 80%. Between September 2025 to November 2025 the teams were meeting this target.

In Bedfordshire CHS, staff had started a catheter clinic each Friday for non-housebound patients to reduce the visit list and give greater choice to patients.

Managers and staff started planning each patient’s discharge as early as possible. Teams worked closely with the local acute hospitals to facilitate prompt discharge from the acute wards. This allowed patients to recover in their own home or a community bed while assessments were completed.

Staff supported patients when they were referred or transferred between services.

Staff actively sought out and listened to information about people who were most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes. They tailored the care, support and treatment in response to this.

Staff promoted a culture in which people using the service felt empowered to share their views and experiences. Staff actively used feedback to tailor care, support and treatment to meet individual needs.

The trust ensured its policies and procedures did not place vulnerable people or people with protected characteristics at a disadvantage. However, managers recognised a need to increase diversity of people involved in participation groups to better reflect the population served. Work was underway to improve representation, including gender and ethnicity.

Staff demonstrated an understanding of the potential challenges faced by vulnerable groups, including LGBTQ+ people and people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Staff were trained in equality, diversity, inclusion and human rights, and this included guidance on recording and respecting people’s gender preferences within care and treatment records.

We support people to plan for important life changes, so they can have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life.

Staff supported patients to make decisions about their care and treatment and their future, including sensitive discussions involving families and people that mattered to them. This included discussions around do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR), pain management and end of life care.

Staff created personalised care plans to account for the patient’s needs, wishes and feelings. The service had specialist advanced care planning teams to develop personalised care plans to account for the person’s needs, wishes and feelings when they were nearing the end of their life. Staff did this with the involvement of family if patients requested. In Tower Hamlets CHS the Senior OT invited two scheduled carers to a learning session relating to the patient’s palliative care needs.

Care for people who were nearing the end of their life was managed and communicated in a sensitive and dignified way. For example, the advanced care planning team in Bedfordshire CHS developed personalised care plans that reflected each person’s individual needs, wishes and feelings.

Staff ensured all relevant healthcare professionals and other relevant bodies were involved in planning the care and treatment of people with complex needs. Staff worked in collaboration with the local hospices to ensure smooth transitions.