George Eliot NHS 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

We assessed the following: kindness, compassion and dignity, treating people as individuals, independence, choice and control, responding to people’s immediate needs, and workforce wellbeing and enablement. Kindness, compassion and dignity: Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity. Treating people as individuals: Staff treated people as individuals, they asked what peoples’ preferred name was so this could be used throughout the appointment. Staff offered appointments to suit the needs of patients and their carers. Independence, choice and control: Staff spoke to patients to find out what support they needed to promote their independence. Responding to people’s immediate needs: Staff responded to people’s immediate needs by working to reduce the time patients needed to wait to be seen. Workforce wellbeing and enablement: The service promoted staff wellbeing through a variety of staff networks, wellbeing conversations and wellbeing events. However, some staff were too busy to attend wellbeing events and some clinics had too many appointments for staff to be able to complete all of their work during work time.

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.

Patients said staff treated them well and with kindness. We spoke with 15 patients and 2 family members they told us the care they received was good, excellent or fantastic.

Staff told us they worked to ensure patients received kind and compassionate care. They said it was important to them that patients experienced a good standard of care and felt they had been treated with compassion. Staff said they did not like to rush patients and they wanted to give them as much opportunity to ask questions as possible. Staff undertook training on breaking bad news and demonstrated empathy when having difficult conversations, for example with patients in the early pregnancy clinics. Staff in interventional radiology understood the emotional and social impact that a person’s care, treatment or condition had on their wellbeing and on those close to them. They explained that many of their patients were at the end of their life and receiving palliative treatments from the team. They understood patients and their family’s anxiety, uncertainty and distress and that they needed to always respond with kindness and compassion.

Our partners had not received negative feedback about the service in the 12 months before our inspection.

Staff were discreet and responsive when caring for patients. Staff took time to interact with patients and those close to them in a respectful and considerate way. All of the care we saw was kind, compassionate and promoted patients dignity. Staff provided emotional support to patients and their carers to minimise their distress. We saw interventional radiology staff spending time talking to and reassuring patients and carers. We saw patients repeating questions and staff responding with kindness and patience. We saw staff maintaining patients’ dignity by explaining why they needed to change into a gown before imaging. They showed patients how to wear gowns so they felt comfortable and dignified. We saw staff get closer or lean in towards patients so they could both hear conversations without having to talk loudly. We saw thank you cards to staff from patients expressing their gratitude for the kindness shown to them at a difficult time. We also saw thank you cards from students who had enjoyed their placement in the department. The service had posters in patient areas asking for feedback on the service through a QR code. Patients scored their experience of being cared for by the interventional radiology team as 4.8 out of 5, with 94% of all respondents scoring 5. The results from the family and friends survey showed patients from all of the other modalities also scored their experience of care as 4.8 out of 5, with 93% of patients scoring 5 out of 5.

Patients were contacted by phone to be offered an appointment on a day and time to suit them. If they did not answer the phone they would be offered an appointment by post at least 2 weeks in the future. This was to give them time to contact the booking to reschedule if they could not attend their appointment or if they wanted to be seen sooner. All the patients we spoke to told us staff had explained the procedure and told them what would happen next. Patients told us staff introduced themselves and were polite and friendly. They also told us they had time to ask questions. Patients said they had received information about what to expect at their appointment including leaflets that included a step-by-step guide of what would happen at the appointment. The family and friends survey from February 2023 showed interventional radiology staff had introduced themselves by name to 100% of patients. In 97% of cases respondents said this made a difference to their experience of care. The results from the March 2024 family and friends survey demonstrated most patients (4.7 out of 5) were satisfied with the way they had been contacted about their appointment. The survey also showed that patients scored 4.6 out of 5 for the information that had been given to them telling them how to prepare for their scan. Results from the family and friends survey showed most people (85%) had been taken into their appointment on time (37%) or early (47%).

Staff knew how to arrange for an interpreter for people whose first language was not English. Staff were familiar with how to use hospital passports for patients with a learning disability. They told us they received training in how to support patients with a learning disability and/or autism, and training in how to support patients with dementia. They told us they would give these patients extra time to ask questions and be reassured, and if required they would find them quiet areas to wait for their appointments.

We saw that patients were given forms to complete that asked for their preferred names and pronouns so that these could be used throughout the appointment. We saw staff asking patients what support they needed to get on and off a couch instead of assuming they needed help. We saw staff answering patient’s questions and providing written information they could take home to look at later.

Patients told us staff asked if they had communication or mobility problems so they could provide support if needed. We saw a patient about to undergo an ultrasound imaging procedure, staff were considerate of the patient’s mobility limitations and offered to support the patient getting on and off the couch. There were dark blue foot prints on the floor in the main radiology department to help guide patients with dementia to different parts of the department. In the community diagnostic centre (CDC) the walls were colour coded to help patients navigate the building. In the CDC toilet signs contained an image of a toilet this was to help people with a learning disability or dementia live more independently.

Staff showed us specially made wheel chairs that could be used in the MRI scanner for patients with mobility problems. Staff told us they would always ask patients what support they needed to promote their independence rather than helping without asking. Staff made sure patients had time to ask questions and checked they understood what was going to happen next.

Patients and family members told us staff had spent time talking through their anxieties about the scan procedure.

Staff told us they worked with other specialities to speed up care. For example, they worked with gastroenterology to perform an ultrasound scan that could measure fat content in liver on a specific cohort of patients immediately before they saw the consultant gastroenterologist. This speeded up treatment for patients as the gastroenterologist could treat the patients based on up-to-date information instead of requesting a scan following the appointment that might not be performed for several weeks. The service asked all patients thought to be of child bearing age when they had their last menstrual period. This was to ensure inclusivity of all patients.

Staff told us they had a dedicated health and well-being ambassador. There was also an employee assistance programme that staff could self-refer themselves to. The team had daily well-being messages shared at their morning huddles. Staff told us the hospital provided a range of wellbeing services to staff and sometimes ran wellbeing days where, for example, staff could have a hand massage. However, some staff told us they were always too busy to attend the staff while being days. We saw some staff had too many patients booked into their clinics. This meant they were reporting on scans in their breaks and at the end of their working days. We saw 1 clinic that was 9 hours and 15 minutes long that had 35 examinations booked in. There was also a chance that an urgent scan might be booked in by the emergency department or that a patient may need admission to hospital which would extend the amount of time required to process the patient. Staff told us this volume of work was having a negative impact on their wellbeing.

There were processes in place to ensure that staff were supported with their well-being which enabled them to continue in their roles of providing care and treatment to patients. Staff well-being was covered in the monthly governance meetings. We saw guidance for managers on creating a space for staff to have wellbeing conversations, and forms for staff to create wellbeing action plans. In collaboration with another local trust the trust produced a bimonthly menopause support newsletter to give staff information on how to stay well during the menopause and where to get additional support from. Also in collaboration with another local trust the trust held wellbeing events for staff throughout the year which included wellbeing walkabouts at different hospitals to raise the profile of the wellbeing opportunities available to all staff. The trust had a fund for staff health and wellbeing events with a clear criterion for applications including a stipulation the events must be inclusive. The trust had speak up and well-being ambassadors. A speak up and well-being ambassador is someone who engaged in the speak up and well-being initiative to support overall employee health and well-being, and promote an inclusive and psychologically safe culture where all staff had a voice and could raise concerns safely. As part of the process in place, newsletters were emailed to staff and posters were posted around the service for staff to review. There was signposting information which staff could access for further support. Examples of the posters and newsletters were reviewed during the onsite assessment stage.