Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

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

Staff treated patients as individuals, with kindness, dignity and respect. Medical support and equipment was available to allow the service to respond quickly to peoples’ needs. Patients partners and their families were encouraged to be involved with their care and treatment. Staff were visible and available to patients supporting them to maintain their independence, choice and control. Staff received adequate support, and breaks, which allowed them to deliver care in a safe and effective way. Patients felt they were supported to be independent and were involved in their treatment.

This service scored 85 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The overwhelming theme from patients’ feedback was that they felt supported and listened to. Staff allowed patients and relatives to have their say, and they took notice of them when they expressed doubts or challenges. People were treated with kindness, dignity and respect. Patients were encouraged to be involved in their care plan and if there was anything they didn’t understand staff would support them and explain this to them. The trust showed us lots of examples of compliments they had received from patients and we observed many thank you cards on the ward notice board from patients and their families.

Staff told us they built good relationships and got to know patients, which helped them deliver person-centred care.

Feedback from internal and external stakeholders was that staff were always polite and respectful and behaved professionally at all times.

We observed staff always tried to be available for patients, and responded to needs quickly. Patients who were breastfeeding on the ward could do so in private if they wished, and a patient who was on 1-1 observations said staff carried this out sensitively and she did not feel like she was being watched all the time.

People fed back that staff respected and supported their choices around caring for the baby as long as their choices didn’t compromise safety. They said staff went out of their way to provide personalised care. One person told us staff took care of her baby when she needed to pray, and another described how staff comforted her when she was particularly distressed.

Staff received mandatory training in equality and diversity and in meeting the needs of people with a learning disability and autism.

There was a relaxed atmosphere on the ward, and we observed that staff and patients had a good rapport with each other. Staff worked in a way that respected the individual needs of patients from different ethnic, cultural or religious backgrounds, and information was provided in different community languages.

There was a variety of easy read leaflets, and staff had good access to interpretation services. Interpreters would often attend assessments in person. There was information on the ward for LBGTQ people including information on a local ‘diverse parents group’ in Leeds, run by the trust. The service was accessible for people with restricted mobility. The ward had a communal accessible bathroom and equipment, such as hoists, and shower chairs could be made available as needed. The trust had both and equal opportunities policy and an equality and diversity policy. Policies were accompanied by impact assessments so the trust could identify any in-built discrimination issues.

Patients told us they could maintain contact with their loved ones as much as they wanted, and visiting hours were not restricted. Informal patients were free to leave the ward to take part in activities but equally, there were activities on the ward that patients could participate. They said the activities felt welcoming and included arts and crafts, baking, mindfulness. They told us they had free access to safe outside space whenever they wanted as there was a small courtyard off the conservatory on the ward.

Patients had access to an independent advocate who supported them with their ward reviews, if they wanted this. They were encouraged to keep in contact with family and friends and could use their own phones or a ward phone.

On our tour of the ward, we saw each patient had their own locked cupboard for food items and each had their own cold-water steriliser. There were 2 kitchens (including one therapy kitchen) and patients could cook their own meals or they could choose from the menu. The food looked appetising and was varied, (four weekly cycle. All patients could access their bedrooms whenever they wanted, but not all patients had their own key. Following the inspection, the manager confirmed more keys would be ordered so that each patient could have one. We saw evidence on care records that patients were supported to maintain contact with their loved ones and encouraged to go out, for example, on overnight leave.

Staff had appropriate groups and activities in place such and they changed depending on what was appropriate and relevant for the current patient cohort. Patients had access to a regular community meeting though the suggested standard agenda format did not match the notes we looked at for June and July 2024.

All the patients we spoke with, including their partners said that staff responded really quickly when they needed something. They felt staff really listened to them and tried to minimise any distress they were feeling. One partner of a patient said the nurses were very responsive and reassuring.

Staff told us they had time to interact with patients and their babies on the ward and responding to their immediate needs was a priority for them.

Staff were very attentive and there were enough of them to ensure each patient had what they needed. The service had access to on-call rota in place that clearly showed the medical support, senior management, and ward management availability. We observed a lunchtime handover and saw that peoples’ immediate needs were addressed and no concerns were raised.

Patients had access to call bells when they needed immediate assistance, but most of the time, staff were visible on the ward interacting with people.

We received positive feedback from staff and leaders about the ward and the trust being a supportive place to work, with good access to staff well-being initiatives and flexible working arrangements. All the staff we spoke with confirmed their workload was manageable and they felt safe on the ward. The ward manager told us staff retention was high and often students would choose to stay on the ward once they were qualified. Staff had a structured induction at the start of their employment.

Staff had access to a lot of well-being resources, including reflective supervision, a well-being hub, and a monthly newsletter with information about well-being resources. Staff had an induction handbook which they got before starting their first shift. Managers supported staff through regular managerial supervisions and annual appraisals, however, compliance rates for staff appraisals were below the trust target of 80%.