Umbrella Medical at Hatherton 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

Leaders and staff had a shared vision and culture based on listening, learning and trust. Leaders were visible, knowledgeable and supportive, helping staff develop in their roles. Staff felt supported to give feedback and were treated equally, free from bullying or harassment. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities. Managers worked with the local community to deliver the best possible care and were receptive to new ideas. There was a culture of continuous improvement with staff given time and resources to try new ideas.

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 practice had a shared vision, strategy and culture. This was based on transparency, equity, equality and human rights, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and understanding challenges and the needs of people and their communities.

The practice promoted a positive and compassionate culture that supported trust and understanding between staff and patients using the practice. Learning and development were supported. Staff reported a positive experience of working at the practice. They felt there was a supportive environment and expressed strong teamwork and a shared commitment to delivering high-quality, patient-centred care.

The practice was a GP training practice with an intake of GP trainees every year.

The provider had prioritised staff health and wellbeing over the past 12 months, with staff reporting feeling more involved and valued. Leadership and succession planning were identified as key priorities to ensure sustainability, with emphasis on retaining and transferring primary care experience. Nine partners were in post and were reported to provide effective leadership with appropriate delegation across the practice.

All staff had contributed to the development of the practice vision and strategy, which was kept under review. The practice was aware of the projected increase in the local population and was working with partner agencies to address future challenges.

The practice 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 were approachable and responded to any concerns raised. Staff also told us leaders modelled the values of the practice. 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 fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard.

The practice had established Freedom to Speak up arrangements with other practices in the primary care network. Staff were aware of how to raise concerns, and we saw examples where staff had used the arrangements in place to positive effect.

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

Policies and procedures to promote diversity and equality were in place. We saw senior leaders had addressed concerns related to discrimination. Adjustments had been made to ensure all staff were valued, for example we saw adjustments to support disabled staff were in place.

We reviewed staff training and found that all staff were up to date with their equality and diversity training. Staff feedback about the culture of the practice in the context of workforce equality was positive. Leaders made reasonable adjustments to support staff to carry out their roles well.

The practice used Occupational Health (OH) appropriately to support staff with changing needs and disabilities, and several staff were consulting with OH to identify and implement reasonable adjustments. Policies and procedures relating to staff support, reasonable adjustments and OH referrals were clearly available and understood by staff and managers.

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 act on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and share this securely with others when appropriate. However, governance systems were not always effective in providing oversight of emergency medicines and equipment.

The staff told us they had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. They used these to manage and deliver good quality, sustainable care, treatment and support.

Clinical concerns and emerging risks were discussed during team meetings, and the minutes were shared with staff to ensure the relevant information and actions were acknowledged and addressed. Staff took patient confidentiality and information security seriously. The practice had introduced a legitimate access audit that provided oversight as to the reason why staff were opening a patient record.

Clinical searches identified areas for improvement, for example, we identified several patients who may have had a missed diagnosis of diabetes and some patients with diabetes had no blood test follow-up and medication review processes weremostly in place although we found there were some gaps in medicines management. The service acknowledged these findings and had since proactively addressed the issues.

The practice 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 partners held monthly clinical and multidisciplinary (MDT) team meetings with community advanced clinical practitioners, palliative care nurses, the wellbeing team and primary care network (PCN) safeguarding lead. The practice actively engaged with the PCN and also held MDT meetings for learning disability, care homes team and frailty. Working alongside practices in the primary care network enabled medical centre to identify new or innovative ideas that could lead to better outcomes for people.

The practice focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They encouraged creative ways of delivering equity of experience, outcomes and quality of life for people. They actively contributed to safe, effective practice and research.

The practice had a quality improvement plan in place to help drive improvements in services. This focussed on the appointment system. All staff were encouraged to put forward and test out new ways of working.

Leaders demonstrated effective oversight of the frequent attender programme through regular monitoring, multidisciplinary review and audit activity. Findings were discussed within governance meetings and used to support continuous improvement and coordinated patient care.