Clifton Medical Centre

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 looked for evidence that service leadership, management and governance assured high-quality, person-centred care; supported learning and innovation; and promoted an open, fair culture.

At our last assessment, we rated this key question as Good. At this assessment, the rating remains the same.

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.

The service had a shared vision, strategy and culture. Leaders demonstrated that they understood the challenges to quality and sustainability and effective systems were in place to monitor progress with action plans.

The practice vision and strategy were kept under review. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities and there was a culture of continuous improvement. The practice was working with partner agencies to address future challenges.

The service had inclusive leaders at all levels who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment and support and embodied the culture and values of their workforce and organisation. Leaders had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. They did so with integrity, openness and honesty.

Staff told us leaders in the practice was approachable. We saw the leadership team worked with other practices in the primary care network and were engaged in the development of primary care services within the local area.

The service fostered a culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. The practice had established Freedom to Speak up arrangements and staff were aware of how to raise concerns.

Leaders encouraged the reporting of incidents to identify ways in which the practice could continually improve. All staff had undertaken equality and diversity training and there were clear policies and procedures accessible to all staff.

The service valued diversity in their workforce. They work towards an inclusive and fair culture by improving equality and equity for people who work for them.

There were policies and procedures in place for the safe recruitment of staff. Other policies included recruitment and whistleblowing.

All staff had access to regular appraisals, one to ones and revalidation. There was an induction process in place for newly appointed staff and staff told us that they were supported. There were systems and processes in place to ensure there were clear responsibilities, roles and accountability structures to support good governance and management.

Staff told us there were clear responsibilities, roles and systems of accountability to support good governance and management. They told us they were clear about their roles and responsibilities and who to contact should they need advice or want to discuss any concerns. Staff were aware of those with lead roles, such as safeguarding, governance and performance. There were assurance systems in place which were regularly reviewed.

Managers held regular practice meetings and staff huddles to discuss clinical concerns and emerging risks. Staff appraisals and professional revalidation were routinely completed through scheduled meetings with management.

There were assurance systems which were regularly reviewed. This included those for managing risks for patients and staff such as fire safety and learning from safety alerts and significant events.

The provider had established governance arrangements that were appropriate for the service. Staff had access to all necessary policies and procedures and demonstrated a clear commitment to maintaining patient confidentiality and information security.

The service understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services work seamlessly for people. They shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement.

The practice was part of a Primary Care Network (PCN) which provided enhanced services to patients. The PCN met regularly to deliver services to meet patients’ needs and to support care provision and service development.

The service focused on continuous learning and improvement across the organisation and local system. They encouraged ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome and quality of life for people.

The practice had a quality improvement plan in place to help drive improvements in services. This focused on the appointment and telephone systems and the triage system. The practice had identified some improvements in initial access following the introduction of a total triage approach. We saw evidence of improvement through the use of clinical audits and all staff were encouraged to put forward and test out new ways of working.

At the time of our assessment there were plans for the practice to be veteran accredited.