Bewdley 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.

We rated this key question as Good.

This service scored 79 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The practice had a clear mission statement: ‘Care. Integrity. Commitment. Sustainability.’ Staff explained they put patients at the forefront of everything they do.

All the staff members we spoke with were positive about the culture of the practice and they enjoyed working there. Staff were positive about the culture of the organisation. Staff felt all colleagues worked well as a team.

Leaders had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively.

Leaders actively engaged with patients, staff, and partner organisations to gather feedback and they took meaningful action in response. Leaders told us they operated an ‘open door’ policy and encouraged staff to raise concerns. They demonstrated during the assessment how they made changes for the better wherever they could.

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 practice strived to ensure staff could speak up and their voice would be heard. There were systems and policies in place to support staff to whistle blow or to speak with a ‘Freedom to Speak Up Guardian’ if they needed to. The practice had appointed a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian who worked externally to the practice. Wyre Forest Health Partnership had also arranged a staff council with staff representatives from each practice. Members of the staff council also acted a Freedom to Speak Up Champions.

The practice valued diversity in their workforce. They had an inclusive and fair culture which had improved equality and equity for people who work for them. Policies and procedures to promote diversity and equality were in place. Staff had received training in equality, diversity and inclusion and were aware of supporting people with protected characteristics such as age, gender, religion and disability. There was a zero tolerance to bullying and harassment and leaders were committed to providing an inclusive and supportive working environment.

All of the staff we spoke with reported high levels of job satisfaction and were encouraged to be involved in contributing to the running of the practice and improving the service delivered for patients.

The practice had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. They used these to manage and deliver good quality, sustainable care, treatment and support. They acted on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and shared this securely with others when appropriate.

Leaders and managers supported staff, and all staff we spoke with were clear on their individual roles and responsibilities. Nominated GPs had been given lead clinical roles within the practice such as women’s health and research.

The practice had established, embedded, governance processes and staff could access all required policies and procedures. Managers held regular meetings with staff, during which they discussed clinical and non-clinical concerns and emerging risks. Managers clearly recorded any actions arising from these meetings and ensured they shared these with staff. Staff took patient confidentiality and information security seriously.

The practice understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services worked seamlessly for patients. They shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement. The practice worked with other practices within their primary care network (PCN) as well as within the Wyre Forest Health Partnership, and attended meetings where practices shared best practice and quality improvement.

Bewdley Medical Centre is a venue for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening. An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a weakening and expansion of the aorta, the main blood vessel that supplies blood to your body. Large aneurysms are rare but can be very serious. The NHS AAA screening programme aims to reduce aneurysm-related deaths through early detection, appropriate monitoring and treatment.

The practice also worked in collaboration with the local Library to provide a baby weigh service.

Bewdley Medical Centre provided a range of health articles and latest information about the practice including patient telephone statistics, for the ‘Bridge’ magazine which was distributed to households in the local community.

Staff told us the practice also supported a Therapy Dog Training organisation. Therapy dog trainingprepares dogs to provide comfort to people in schools, hospitals, and care homes through specialized training.

Staff referred patients to the Pharmacy First service where appropriate. Pharmacy First is a consultation service which enables patients to be referred into community pharmacy for a minor illness oran urgent repeat medicine supply. The service helps to free up GP appointments for patients who need them most and includes the supply of appropriate medicines for 7 common conditions including earache, sore throat, and urinary tract infections, aiming to address health issues before they get worse.

The practice collected patient feedback regularly via the NHS “Friends and Family Test” and reported on these outcomes each month. On an annual basis, the practice reviewed the National GP Patient Survey results and identified areas for improvement.

In addition, the practice had a patient participation group (PPG) and staff had discussions with and collated feedback from the PPG to identify improvements for the practice.

Leaders were passionate and committed to building strong bonds within the community especially following the challenges of the COVID19 pandemic. As such, the practice looked for ways to support the community also in non-clinical ways. For example, the practice had arranged for the church and local town band to use the practice parking facilities over the weekends. Leaders explained a barrier for people to attend these had been increased parking costs, and so this initiative had removed this barrier for people in the community.

In addition, the practice were in the process of supporting a ‘Bridge’ card game club. Research has found that mentally challenging games such as Bridge are well suited for older peoplebecause the games offer intellectual and social stimulation. Leaders told us a key driver of this initiative is to help tackle social isolation of people living in smaller rural villages/areas in the community; and to increase links within local communities and strengthen the practice’s neighbourhood presence.

The practice also engaged with local schools. For example, the practice had worked with local schools to try to increase the uptake of the NHS app; offered an ‘Introduction to Medicine’course for local students; provided information articles within school newsletters; and offered work experience at the practice. Students were also able to volunteer to assist with the dementia and veteran café events which was attended by approximately 40 people. Leaders told us they had engaged with a local school for a student art competition to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Bewdley Medical Centre.

The practice had a strong focus on continuous learning, innovation and improvement. Staff participated in quality improvement work and used learning from significant events and complaints to continually improve the service they provided. On a monthly basis, there was a ‘Clinical Award’ for GPs for any unusual diagnoses made for patients and the learning from these cases was shared.

Staff were enthusiastic about the Wyre Forest Health Partnership ‘CQC Dashboard’ which had been developed which collated data from all of the practices within the partnership and facilitated performance monitoring, sharing of information, and learning for improvement. In addition, the Wyre Forest Health Partnership had a business development committee. This committee meeting was designed to provide a structured forum where innovation was actively encouraged, reviewed, and embedded into practice. The Wyre Forest Health Partnership had developed a weekly newsletter for all staff across the partnership practices which provided them with information, updates and learning.

Leaders told us about the Wyre Forest Health Partnership research team, and recent studies which the practices had been participating including ‘DaRE2Think,’ a University of Birmingham study, investigating whether earlier intervention with NHS treatments can prevent blood clots and memory loss in patients with atrial fibrillation, a common heart rhythm condition associated with vascular dementia; and the ‘ELSA’ NHS study for screening Type 1 Diabetes in children and young people.