St Matthews 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

Patients told us they were supported to have some choice and control over their own care and treatment, through regular discussions with staff, attending multi-disciplinary meetings, and through care plan reviews. Staff supported patients to understand their rights by using different ways to communicate. For example, communication aids were available for those who had difficulty in communicating verbally. Staff produced easy read documents and used pictorial aids as and when relevant to maximise understanding. Patients had easy access to advocates. Staff could easily access translators if a patients first language was not English. Staff supported patients to maintain relationships and networks that were important to them. For example, some patients attended local places of worship. Patients had access to activities within the hospital and also out in the local community. Where appropriate, family members were updated and included in discussions about ongoing care and treatment. Visits from people that were important to patients was actively encouraged and facilitated. As and when patients required specialist aids or equipment to support and maximise independence, staff sourced this. Staff ensured that all patients were fully assessed before admission, so that any specific needs, or aids were identified, and where relevant, sourced, before the patient arrived at the hospital.

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.

We did not look at Kindness, compassion and dignity during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

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.

All patients said that staff treated them with dignity and respect at the hospital. Patients said they felt that staff were genuinely interested in them as a person and the journey that they had been on and were continuing with. Staff involved patients in planning care and treatment. Patients said that they felt they had control around their care and treatment and if there was something that they didn’t understand staff took time to explain this to them. Patients also said that where possible and appropriate their family members were involved in decisions around their care and treatment. In a recent satisfaction survey, patients had rated caring as good. Specifically, patients responded to the statement "I feel that service users have independence, choice and control over their own lives" as good.

Senior staff reported that through ongoing monitoring, there was evidence of patient involvement and voice within care plans, alongside evidence of engagement with external facilities and agencies. Staff interviewed placed emphasis upon patient wellbeing and acknowledged that patients needed to have some control over their care, treatment and recovery journey.

Systems and processes were in place to ensure regular relationships and networks were established and maintained. Within the patient records and care plans there was evidence of engagement with external facilities and agencies. Staff assumed that patients had the ability to make informed decisions unless clinical assessment and documentation identified otherwise. Patients were given choice and staff enabled them to make their own decisions, with staff offering education and support as needed.

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.