Bradford Royal Infirmary

On this page

• Overview
• Shared direction and culture
• Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders
• Freedom to speak up
• Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion
• Governance, management and sustainability
• Partnerships and communities
• Learning, improvement and innovation

We assessed key questions within well- led we rated it’s as good. We found there was a shared direction and culture, there were capable, compassionate, and inclusive leaders. There was evidence of workforce equality, diversity, and inclusion.

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.

Most staff we spoke with were proud of the organisation as a place to work and spoke highly of the culture. However, some staff across the assessment service group felt they were not always supported, safe, respected, and valued within the wider organisation. Staff at all levels were actively encouraged to speak up and raise concerns. Staff understood how to do this and most told us what they would do. Staff we spoke with described they could raise concerns with their line manager, divisional leads, or senior leadership team. There was a freedom to speak up policy to enable staff to speak up if they had concerns about colleagues’ professional behaviours. Most staff we spoke with were aware of this. However, there was a genuine fear for some staff of speaking out and not all staff felt safe from bullying, harassment, in its many forms, misogyny, racism or other discrimination. Managers supported staff’s mental health and well being. The provider offered an employee assist line offering personal assistance and well being support to all staff. Staff told us that managers were supportive of health and well being, and they felt comfortable raising concerns about their own well being. One member of staff told us that staff at the hospital had been a great support to them when they had experienced a personal challenge. Patients we spoke with were positive about their experience and interactions with staff, they told us they felt confident and comfortable to raise concerns, though none of the patients we spoke with had needed to raise concerns during their stay.

Processes and procedures were in place to meet the duty of candour. Where errors had been made or where a patients’ experience fell short of what was expected, apologies were given, and action was taken to rectify concerns raised. When incidents had caused harm, the duty of candour was applied in accordance with the regulation.

The senior leadership team for the service were able to tell us about the vision for the service and each ward within the service. The senior leadership team were sighted on risks and able to articulate the risks for their areas. We heard that senior members of the leadership team were visible on occasions during evenings and weekends and that members of the executive team were also visible on occasions. We heard that the senior leadership team for the assessment service group were all approachable. Staff and senior leaders were able to tell us about the progression routes and trust actions towards succession planning. We heard staff experiences of being supported to progress from healthcare assistant roles to trainee nursing associate and nursing roles. The senior leadership team were clear that they had to plan for the present but also maintain a five year forward view to ensure that there was consistency in staff being ready for the next step to ensure ongoing strong and high quality leadership. Staff we spoke to were clear that appropriate behaviours be modelled at all times and staff were able to identify examples of situations that were not acceptable. Staff told us they felt confident to manage difficult situations with integrity and openness and to raise concerns. We heard that leaders recognised positive pieces of work. We heard an example of a positive piece of work regarding a significant reduction of falls on one ward - this work had been put forward for the national patient safety awards. Staff we spoke to told us they felt valued as part of the organisation.

The senior leadership team had processes in place to ensure they all had regular time to be present on wards. There were practice educators in post who supported educational needs of staff. The senior leadership team explained that these roles were to allow 'on the job support'. There was leadership training available for staff at all levels depending upon the direction they wished to develop. This was available through the trust Thrive scheme. There were induction processes in place for new staff from a range of grades and disciplines.

We did not look at Freedom to speak up during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

Staff across a range of roles including cleaners, healthcare assistants, allied health professionals, nurses and doctors repeatedly told us that they felt leaders and peers treat all staff equally. At the time of our visit there was a number of staff following specific religious customs and all staff we spoke to were clear that rotas were completed fairly to allow individual staff to equally follow their customs at times of religious festival or celebration throughout the year. In addition, the site had 3 Muslim prayer rooms, complete with washing facilities and the provision of Jumma (congregational prayers) on a Friday afternoon. During Ramadan the trust employed extra Iman's so congregational prayers can be held daily. We heard that the ward based practice education team were working together to constantly empower staff to learn more about different cultures. One staff member stated it felt like there was a diverse range of staff running wards for a diverse range of patients. We spoke to staff from a range of backgrounds who told us they felt valued and equal members of the team. The senior leadership team told us they were aware of the workforce race equality standard data and disability equality standards data along with staff survey results for their assessment service group. We heard that this data was reviewed and reflected upon by the senior leadership team to ensure the service was meeting the needs of the staff groups.

There were a wide range of staff networks and supports available to meet the needs of diverse staff groups within the trust. Equality, diversity and inclusion training was completed as part of the core training required of all staff. Autism training was available for all staff to complete. All staff we asked were aware of this training and told us they had completed it. There was a trust wide equality, diversity and inclusion strategy in place. This set out clear objectives for 2023 to 2025 with an action plan to achieve these objectives.

We did not look at Governance, management and sustainability during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

We did not look at Partnerships and communities during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

We did not look at Learning, improvement and innovation during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.