Themes | Care Quality & Organisational Culture | The Accountability Index

Patient dignity and privacy

Failure to ensure suitable arrangements are in place to consider and respect the dignity, privacy, and independence of people using care services.

785 items 14 sources 11 inquiries

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Inquiry recommendation

P2-22 - Independent sector SOPs for deceased patients

Independent sector healthcare providers should ensure that there are Standard Operating Procedures and policies in place to protect the security and dignity of any patients that die under their care. Wherever possible, deceased patients' rooms should be kept locked. Providers should also ensure that staff are aware of the need to protect the security and dignity of deceased...

Matched on terms: dignity, patient

Queen's Hospital

The service should consider making improvements to the children’s emergency department’s mental health rooms to protect the dignity and privacy of patients.

Matched on terms: dignity, patient, privacy

Montagu Hospital, Mexborough

Thetrustshouldensurestaffalwaysmaintainpatient’sprivacy,dignity,andconfidentialityparticularlyinpublicareas.

Matched on terms: dignity, patient, privacy

King George Hospital

The service should consider further ways in which to improve privacy and dignity for all patients attending the ED.

Matched on terms: dignity, patient, privacy

Ellesmere Port Hospital

The service should ensure that patients’ privacy, dignity and confidentiality is maintained in the reception area.

Matched on terms: dignity, patient, privacy

The Princess Royal Hospital

The trust should ensure the privacy and dignity of all patients is maintained at all times.

Matched on terms: dignity, patient, privacy

The County Hospital

The trust should ensure the privacy and dignity of all patients is maintained at all times.

Matched on terms: dignity, patient, privacy

Royal Sussex County Hospital

The trust should ensure that patients’ privacy and dignity are supported when being moved by following surgery.

Matched on terms: dignity, patient, privacy

Royal Shrewsbury Hospital

The trust should ensure the privacy and dignity of all patients is maintained at all times.

Matched on terms: dignity, patient, privacy

Doncaster Royal Infirmary

The trust should ensure staff always maintain patient’s privacy, dignity, and confidentiality particularly in public areas.

Matched on terms: dignity, patient, privacy

Inquiry recommendation

P1-17 - Deceased treated with same dignity as patients

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust must treat the deceased with the same due regard to dignity and safeguarding as it does its other patients.

Matched on terms: dignity, patient

Inquiry recommendation

P2-24 - Anatomical education security and dignity policies

All organisations providing anatomical education and training using donors should make sure that policies and procedures are in place to ensure the security and dignity of donors. These should include: security and access policies and the auditing of security and access measures such as swipe card access, CCTV and access to the locations where donors are kept; governance...

Matched on terms: dignity

HSSIB recommendation

Healthcare provision in prisons: continuity of care

HSSIB recommends that HM Prison and Probation Service standardises the approach to the provision of prison officer escorts for outpatient appointments to protect the dignity of patients and reduce variability of escort slots. This will assist in reducing the likelihood of patients refusing to attend healthcare appointments, while balancing appointment availability, thus improving the continuity and equality of...

Matched on terms: dignity, patient

Kettering General Hospital

The service should ensure patient privacy curtains are clean, well maintained and replaced in a timely manner.

Matched on terms: patient, privacy

Gloucestershire Royal Hospital

The trust must ensure steps are taken to protect the privacy and dignity of children and young people in their care.

Matched on terms: dignity, privacy

University Hospital North Durham

The service should consider ways to ensure women’s privacy and dignity are always protected when in theatre.

Matched on terms: dignity, privacy

HSSIB recommendation

Mental health inpatient settings: Creating conditions for the delivery of safe and therapeutic care to adults — HSSIB

HSSIB recommends that NHS England, working with relevant stakeholders, develops guiding principles for providers of mental health inpatient care to support local decision making when accommodating patients, including patients who are transgender and non-binary. This is to ensure a provider’s equality and human rights obligations are considered, and all patients are cared for in environments where they feel...

Matched on terms: patient

Oct 2024 · West Sussex, Brighton and Hove

The emergency department regularly uses corridors for patient care due to insufficient space, leading to inadequate privacy, lack of staffing, and safety concerns, especially during major incidents.

Matched on terms: patient, privacy

HSSIB recommendation

Investigation report: Mental health inpatient settings - out of area placements

Mental health inpatient services can improve patient safety by offering advocacy to all mental health inpatients at the point of admission, and ensuring that the patient’s decision about whether or not to have an advocate is continually reviewed as their treatment continues and needs may change. This can ensure that patients’ needs and views are taken into account...

Matched on terms: patient

William Harvey Hospital

The trust must ensure patients are always treated with dignity and respect, including during medical and clinical assessments when in overcrowded areas.

Matched on terms: dignity, patient

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital

The trust must ensure that patients are treated with dignity and respect at all times, including during medical and clinical assessments when in overcrowded areas.

Matched on terms: dignity, patient

The James Cook University Hospital

The service must address the environmental and equipment shortfalls that affect the safety, privacy and dignity of women, birthing people and babies

Matched on terms: dignity, privacy

HSSIB recommendation

Healthcare provision in prisons

HSSIB recommends that HM Prison and Probation Service standardises the approach to the provision of prison officer escorts for outpatient appointments to protect the dignity of patients and reduce variability of escort slots. This will assist in reducing the likelihood of patients refusing to attend healthcare appointments, while balancing appointment availability, thus improving the continuity and equality of...

Matched on terms: dignity, patient

Haisthorpe House

The provider must ensure people who used services always have their dignity and independence assured by making suitable arrangements to treat people with consideration and respect.

Matched on terms: dignity

Inquiry recommendation

P2-32 - Ambulance policies on deceased security and dignity

NHS ambulance services should also have policies regarding the security and dignity of the deceased, including when the deceased should be covered and/or secured. NHS England should monitor that such policies are in place.

Matched on terms: dignity

Committee recommendation

#14 - Healthcare practitioners insufficiently understand reproductive health treatment options and their impact on patients.

Women and Equalities Committee

Healthcare practitioners lack sufficient understanding of the range and suitability of treatment options available to treat reproductive health conditions. Too often conditions are viewed through the prism of fertility which, while a necessary consideration, should not be the only factor influencing a clinician’s judgement. There is also an evident lack of empathy in primary care around the adverse...

Matched on terms: patient

Committee recommendation

#19 - Create new Establishment Payment for community pharmacies to develop patient consultation spaces.

Health and Social Care Committee

We recommend the creation of a new “Establishment Payment” to be paid to eligible community pharmacies to support the development of consultation spaces for patients. This funding should be targeted at pharmacies that are the most reliant on NHS work as their main source of income and could be linked to a commitment to provide an agreed level...

Matched on terms: patient

Detention investigation recommendation

Assessment of government progress in implementing the report on the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons - Rec...

Waiting environments for medication distribution should be reviewed to ensure privacy and dignity, and support personal safety.

Matched on terms: dignity, privacy

HSSIB recommendation

Workforce and patient safety: primary and community care co-ordination for people with long-term conditions

Health and care organisations can improve patient safety by allocating a point of contact for patients and/or their carers when people are discharged from services out of normal working hours. This will ensure patients and their carers are able to escalate any concerns relating to their ongoing care and drive improvements in care co-ordination.

Matched on terms: patient

Committee recommendation

#22 - Implement policies ensuring separate spaces for reproductive health and obstetrics patients during investigations/treatment

Women and Equalities Committee

NHS England should implement policies to ensure there are separate spaces for patients undergoing investigations or treatment for reproductive health conditions and obstetrics patients. (Paragraph 91) Waiting lists

Matched on terms: patient

Committee recommendation

#16 - NHS fails patients during routine reproductive procedures, neglecting duty of care and pain management.

Women and Equalities Committee

The NHS is failing many patients who undergo routine reproductive healthcare procedures such as hysteroscopy, IUD fitting and cervical screening. In too many cases, we find that a duty of care from gynaecologists and other medical practitioners is absent. Women are being pressured into enduring severe pain and find that they are ignored or belittled by those charged...

Matched on terms: patient

Feb 2024 · Norfolk

There was non-compliance with medication administration, with tablets left unsupervised for a patient with delirium, and serious failures in personal care.

Matched on terms: patient

HSSIB recommendation

Patient care in temporary care environments

Does your organisation ensure that patients in temporary care environments are regularly engaged with to ensure that they have food, water, are comfortable, understand what is happening to them and what the plan is going forward?

Matched on terms: patient

Inquiry recommendation

P2-33 - Ambulance photography policies

Every NHS ambulance service must put policies in place regarding taking photographs of deceased patients, including any circumstances in which this may be required, and ensure that ambulance staff are aware of these and comply with them.

Matched on terms: patient

Inquiry recommendation

P2-23 - Independent sector accompanied access to deceased

Independent sector healthcare providers should ensure that only people who have a legitimate reason to access a room that contains a deceased patient do so, even if they are staff members, and that they are always accompanied.

Matched on terms: patient

Inquiry recommendation

P2-5 - Operational barriers including device restrictions

All NHS trusts should consider putting in place systemic operational barriers that prevent the security and dignity of deceased people being compromised. An example of this would be implementation of a rule that prevents electronic devices such as phones or cameras being taken into a mortuary, other than for approved reasons.

Matched on terms: dignity

To ensure that patients’ complaints were received by healthcare staff more swiftly, the provider had enlisted the support of two trusted prisoners to collect healthcare applications and complaints from the healthcare boxes on the wings. This was not appropriate and meant that sensitive and personal health information was not kept confidential. Following our inspection, we received written confirmation...

Matched on terms: patient

The provider did not ensure that people were treated with dignity and respect.

Matched on terms: dignity

IMB recommendation

North West and Midlands STHF (2025)

The Board is concerned at the practice of leaving detained people in the CWA, and recommends that they should always be afforded the dignity, privacy and relative comfort of being moved into the holding room where there are toilets and other facilities to help them rest while being detained (see section 5/Fair and humane treatment).

Matched on terms: dignity, privacy

Article 2 learning point

Mr Everest — HMP Altcourse - LP 20

The prison must ensure that when a prisoner is on a bed watch in hospital and in a poor state of health, following an incident of life threatening self-harm, they achieve a balanced risk assessment of the need to have prison officers present to protect the public and the prisoner’s dignity and privacy. The family’s views should be...

Matched on terms: dignity, privacy

LGO / SPSO decision

201401305 - A Dentist in the Lothian NHS Board area

SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman)

Mrs C complained that part of her dental work was provided on a private basis without her prior knowledge or consent. She said that she was not given a written treatment plan or cost comparison before the treatment was carried out. The dentist said that Mrs C was given a verbal explanation of the treatment options available to...

Matched on terms: patient

Inquiry recommendation

R85 - RQIA communication with patients

Muckamore Abbey Inquiry

RQIA needs to spend proportionately more time talking to patients/residents, and its staff need to be trained in specific communication techniques such as Makaton and Talking Mats.

Matched on terms: patient

Committee recommendation

#46 - Sick leave inadequate for miscarriage support, lacking confidentiality, dignity, and sufficient pay

Women and Equalities Committee

conclusion Sick leave is an inappropriate and inadequate form of employer support in the aftermath of a miscarriage or pregnancy loss. It does not afford women adequate confidentiality or dignity and puts them at high risk of employment discrimination. The low rate of Statutory Sick Pay means that many women and their partners simply cannot afford to take...

Matched on terms: dignity

James Maughland

Hospitals (other than psychiatric hospitals) should review how they deal with the admission of patients with learning disability or mental illness and devise a protocol for identifying such patients and to ensure that there is proper communication with them not only on admission but throughout their stay in such hospitals. Where there is a patient in a general...

Matched on terms: patient

Sep 2014 · Isle of Wight

Severe understaffing at a care home caused patient neglect, poor infection control, and lacking external nurse communication protocols. The hospital also had no system to record safeguarding alerts or notify authorities of deaths for vulnerable patients.

Matched on terms: patient

George Griffiths

Jun 2023 · Herefordshire

A significant pressure sore developed during the patient's lengthy and complicated hospital admission, contributing to death and raising concerns about care quality in the elderly care ward.

Matched on terms: patient

Jul 2023 · Essex

A hospital's internal investigation into poor patient care was critically flawed and unprofessional, as key photographic evidence was withheld, preventing proper identification of systemic failings.

Matched on terms: patient

Oct 2024 · Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen

In A&E, prolonged patient stays lacked timely alerts to management, care needs were inadequately assessed for complex patients, and nurses lacked essential asthma assessment knowledge without senior escalation.

Matched on terms: patient

Inquiry recommendation

P2-43 - Local authority CCTV installation

CCTV must be installed inside the mortuary facing all doors and access points, the reception area and the doors of all fridges containing deceased people, including where these are accessible from within the post-mortem room. Local authorities must put appropriate safeguards in place to maintain the security and dignity of the deceased in relation to the monitoring of...

Matched on terms: dignity

Inquiry recommendation

P2-38 - Local authority lone working review

Where mortuary staff are permitted to work alone in the mortuary, there should be a review of lone working policies, including consideration of activities involving direct handling of the deceased, alongside mitigations that can be put in place to safeguard the security and dignity of the deceased, such as CCTV.

Matched on terms: dignity

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