Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS 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

Caring Commentary

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

At our last assessment we rated this key question outstanding. At this assessment the rating has changed to good.

This service scored 65 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Staff were not always discreet when caring for patients. We observed two instances on one ward where patient care was undertaken in side rooms. Staff had neglected to turn the door louvre windows to the closed position. This meant that we could observe hands on clinical interventions, this compromised the privacy and dignity of the patient.

Patients we spoke with said staff treated them well and with kindness.

Staff understood and respected the personal, cultural, social and religious needs of patients and how they may relate to care needs and recorded this in the clinical notes.

We saw the service made adjustments for disabled patients – for example, by ensuring disabled people’s access to premises and by meeting patients’ specific communication needs. However, plus size patients could not be admitted to Louth or Skegness hospital as they could not be safely evacuated if there was a fire due to the environment.

We saw that patients could obtain information on treatments, local services, patients’ rights, how to complain and this was in accessible form if required.

Information leaflets were available in languages spoken by patients.

Managers ensured that staff and patients had easy access to interpreters and/or signers.

Patients had a choice of food to meet the dietary requirements of religious and ethnic groups and to account for allergies and intolerances.

Staff ensured that patients had access to appropriate spiritual and emotional support and advice when they needed it.

Staff we spoke with 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 sought the views of patients and their and families via feedback forms.

Feedback was appreciated, and used in developing the service, for example developing better facilities for families sleeping overnight on the wards.

Staff told us they always took individual likes and needs into consideration, for example place of death preferences within the end-of-life pathway.

Staff did not always respond to patient call bells in a timely manner. We observed one instance where a patient had rung their bell for assistance. The inspector present on the ward at the time observed staff walking past the patient’s bedroom even though the buzzer was sounding and the call light was illuminated. After two minutes had passed the inspector approached the patient to give assistance. The patient confirmed they did not require medical help but wanted to pass on a message to ward staff. The inspector said they would pass the message on but did not cancel the buzzer. The inspector informed a senior member of the ward team of the patient’s message. Staff were again observed to walk past the bedroom; the senior member of staff then cancelled the alarm call bell.

Staff on one ward had implemented a range of initiatives which improved the levels of hydration of patients’ and achieved positive outcomes in relation to physical health and wellbeing.

Overall sickness rates over the 3 months prior to our assessment were 3%, however we spoke with two managers who said they had been off sick due to work related stress recently.

We spoke with 29 staff, most said they felt respected, supported and valued; however, some said the implementation of the group model had not been communicated well.

Staff we spoke with felt positive and proud about working for the provider and their team.

Staff had access to support for their own physical and emotional health needs through an occupational health service.

The provider recognised staff success within the service holding an annual group staff awards ceremony.

Staff appraisals included conversations about career development and how it could be supported.