The Medic Care Surgery

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

There were established and effective systems and processes in place to meet patient needs. Staff were involved in governance systems checking systems operated effectively and safe practice was promoted and maintained. Staff were encouraged to seek clinical advice and guidance and reported clinicians to be accessible, receptive and supportive when they asked questions.

Leaders and staff shared a vision to provide good accessible and responsive care. Their culture was founded on listening, learning and trust. Leaders were visible, knowledgeable and supportive to staff and people. Leaders and managers worked with the local community to deliver the best possible care and were receptive to new ideas to improve patient service and their experiences.

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.

Staff told us they cared about their work and were committed to getting it right. We witnessed an open culture amongst staff and a willingness to engage and improve services for people. Staff told us they felt listened to, heard, involved and valued. They were encouraged to raise issues and contribute. Their achievements were acknowledged and celebrated.

Staff were clear regarding what was expected of them within their role and how this directly contributed to the wider organisation’s objectives.

The provider and management team demonstrated that they were competent to ensure that the organisational vision could be delivered and risks were well managed. They employed reflective practice. They knew the strengths and limitations with their current operating model and had sought appropriate support and development in their role. They were alert to barriers to people that may affect the quality of people’s care and have a detrimental impact on staff.

Staff told us their management team and colleagues acted with openness, honesty and transparency in the dealings with one another and patients. Staff told us they were trusted to work with autonomy but had the support and assurance of clinical and administrative support and oversight.

The practice had a nominated speak up champions for staff to approach if they felt unable to directly raise concerns with the management team. Staff also had access to external speak up champions if they felt more comfortable to do so. Concerns raised by staff informally and formally were all recorded, investigated and responded to and any learning identified and shared to drive improvements.

Staff told us they valued their colleagues and the opportunities to support one another, shared learning and diversify their knowledge and skills base. Staff felt confident raising concerns or questions and welcomed the support of the Integrated Care Board (areNHS organisations responsible for planning health services for their local population).

There were established, effective and inclusive systems and processes in place to demonstrate the leaders had reviewed, considered and improved the culture of the practice. Staff views and opinions were requested or captured to inform the development of the service. There was systemic review of policies and procedures to ensure they were reflective of best practice. Reasonable adjustments had been made in response to health and safety considerations.

The provider had established and effective governance, management and accountability arrangements. The practice manager had global oversight of activities to check on compliance and worked with the management team to ensure this. Whilst staff were appointed areas of responsibility and held accountable for performance in these areas. Clinicians oversaw risks such as safeguarding, medicine management, clinical practice and infection prevention control. For example, staff reported on their areas of responsibilities during clinical meetings. They detailed risks such as the review and actioning of Medicines and Health products Regulatory Alerts, including highlighting the number of patients potentially affected and those awaiting review and resolution.

The provider conducted checks on individuals and collective performance to ensure adherence to safe practice. Significant events were learnt from so similar incidents reoccurred. Concerns raised in clinical meetings were actioned and resolved.

Staff and leaders operated with openness and transparency. They collaborated with all relevant external stakeholders and agencies. Staff and leaders worked in partnership with key organisations to support care provision, service development and joined-up care. Staff and leaders engaged with people, communities and partners to share learning with each other that results in continuous improvements to the service. They used these networks to identify new or innovative ideas that can lead to better outcomes for people for example, a focus on addressing gender inequalities.

Staff and leaders have a good understanding of the importance of and how to make improvement happen. They were accessible to staff and people, investing time and resources into listening to people’s experiences and made changes to improve the service. They referred to their patient participation group as critical friends and valued their experiences and contribution to improving the service.

There were established systems and processes to ensure staff learnt from previous adverse incidents, understood the risks, strengthened operating systems or improved people’s skills and knowledge to mitigate or remove the risks from recurring.

There were established and known processes in place to identify and learn when things went wrong or could be improved both in the practice and locally within the Integrated Care Board. Leaders encouraged and welcomed staff to speak up, employing reflection and collective problem-solving.