Key question: caring?
Population group: All groups
This example relates to Key Line of Enquiry (KLOE) C1: Are people treated with kindness, dignity, respect and compassion while they receive care and treatment?
When we inspected
Practice 1 (comment cards)
We received 21 completed CQC comment cards: 10 comments were negative. Some of the common themes highlighted that patients were unable to see the same doctor, were not treated with dignity and respect, felt the doctor was not caring and patients did not feel listened to.
Practice 2 (practice facilities)
We found three treatment rooms where there were no curtains; therefore patients’ privacy and dignity were not always maintained during examinations.
Practice 3 (patient interviews)
We spoke with six patients on the days of our inspection. All told us they were not satisfied with the care provided by the practice.
Patients told us that they were unable to see the same doctor. They also told us that they often received different diagnoses from different doctors and that they had to wait a long time after their appointment time to be seen. They told us that when they were seen they were not treated with dignity or respect by some of the locum doctors.
Practice 4 (national patient survey)
Evidence from the national patient survey showed that approximately 50% of respondents were not satisfied with how they were treated.
For example, data from the national patient survey showed that the practice was rated ‘among the worst’ compared to other practices in the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) area.
The practice was also below average for its satisfaction scores on consultations with doctors and nurses. Just 59% of respondents said the GP was good at listening to them and 48% said the GP gave them enough time.
Why this is inadequate?
These examples demonstrate different ways in which we seek feedback from patients. In the example of Practice 1, about half of patients who responded were critical of the care they received on the CQC comment cards. Practices 2, 3 and 4 demonstrate that patients were not consistently being treated with dignity and respect.