The Brimington Surgery

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 1 quality statement from this key question. We have combined the score for this area with scores based on the rating from the last inspection, which was outstanding. Our rating for this key question remains outstanding. We found that staff treated people with kindness, compassion and dignity and the practice had been awarded a dignity award in recognition of their work in this area. The National GP Survey 2024 showed that patient satisfaction was above local and national averages in the indicators relevant to this question. The practice raised money for the local hospice to support the care the hospice provided to people near the end of their lives and their families.

This service scored 95 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The CQC received 57 comments from people which related to kindness, compassion and dignity. This feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Patients told us staff at all levels were exceptionally caring, kind, helpful, warm, friendly and welcoming. They told us that clinicians listened to them, were very knowledgeable and professional, gave them all the time they needed and went over and above to provide a service. Patients used words such as effective, excellent, exceptional and brilliant to describe the service they received. Feedback from Healthwatch and The National GP Survey supported this. For example, 97% of respondents said the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to was good at treating them with care and concern. This was above the local average of 86% and the national average of 85%.

Leaders shared a policy with us to demonstrate how staff were supported to maintain a person’s dignity. All of the staff we spoke with were fully aware of the policy and the actions required to maintain a person’s privacy and dignity and ensure people were treated respectfully in all circumstances. Staff told us of the training they had received to support minority and marginalised groups of people for example veterans and people from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, or another diverse gender identity (LGBTQ+) population. Through our conversations with staff, we found that staff consistently shared the same approach and it was fully embedded into practice. A leader told us the practice had participated in the Dignity Award and had been the first practice in the area to achieve this. They told us staff had been extremely enthusiastic to engage in this. One member of staff told us how they had set up a bereavement support group in the village hall to care for people who were bereaved and lonely. This had been very effective and had been running for several years. The practice held events to raise money for the local hospice to support the care the hospice provided to people near the end of their lives and their families. Leaders kept a log of 51 examples of when staff had gone the extra mile to provide high-quality person-centred care. Examples included delivering flowers and a card to a person living on their own on their birthday and a member of staff had started work early to accommodate a patient who needed an early morning appointment. There was a culture within the practice of kindness and respect towards colleagues. For example, the practice manager told us how they had created a dedicated prayer room for staff of multiple faiths to pray. To support people who had experienced a miscarriage, staff at all levels had been provided with training to promote bereavement care and support to people.

We found there was a policy in place to support staff in maintaining a person’s dignity. The aim of the policy was to ensure that staff were aware of the actions required to maintain a person’s privacy and dignity and that they were treated respectfully in all circumstances where there was a potential of embarrassment for the patient. All of the staff we spoke with were astutely aware of their role in maintaining a person’s dignity and gave us examples of when they had done this. For example, a clinical member of staff told us how they had maintained a person's dignity on a home visit when the action required exceeded the care they had gone to provide. Staff told us they had access to a quiet room if a person needed to speak with them in private or sit quietly away from the main waiting area. All of the staff we spoke with told us they used people's preferred pronouns to respect people's dignity when communicating with them. Policies identified the need to not only respect people that have transitioned but people who also did not identify as he or she.

We did not look at Treating people as individuals during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

We did not look at Independence, choice and control during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

We did not look at Responding to people’s immediate needs during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

We did not look at Workforce wellbeing and enablement during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.