Beacon 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 the service’s leadership, management and governance assured high-quality, person-centred care and promoted an open and 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. This was based on transparency, equity, equality, human rights, diversity, inclusion and engagement. Staff and leaders understood the challenges and the needs of people and their communities.

All staff had contributed to the development of the service’s vision and strategy, which was kept under review. Leaders monitored and reviewed progress against the delivery of their strategy.

The service was aware of local challenges which affected their service, such as insufficient public transport to their main site. The service maintained a branch site at the town centre of Sidmouth to promote easier access to their services.

Staff and leaders actively promoted equality and diversity and worked to identify the causes of any workforce inequalities. They demonstrated a positive and compassionate listening culture that focused on learning and development.

Leaders led effectively and were open to staff feedback. The service carried out an anonymous online staff survey recently. They analysed and presented the findings to staff and brought about improvement. For example, some staff felt that decisions made at team leader meetings were not always acted on. To address this, the meeting notes were updated to clearly list the actions required.

The leaders worked collaboratively with neighbouring GP practices to learn from each other to bring about improvement to services. For example, the service shared their experience with other GP practices on how to effectively use their online management system. The service also visited another GP practice to learn from their patient triage system.

We did not look at Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

We did not look at Freedom to speak up during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

We did not look at Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

The service 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.

All staff we spoke with were clear on their individual roles and responsibilities. To improve efficiency in staff management, team leader roles were created with regular team leader meetings for better communication.

Leaders proactively supported staff and regularly met with them to complete appraisals and performance reviews which were all clearly documented. The provider had established governance processes in relation to the quality statements we reviewed during this assessment, which were appropriate for their service. The service used their online management system effectively to monitor staff training, recruitment, maintenance checks and general risk management.

Staff could access all required policies and procedures, which were kept up to date and reflected latest guidance.

Leaders held regular meetings with staff, during which they discussed emerging risks and potential improvements to the service. Leaders clearly recorded any actions that arose from these meetings and shared these with staff.

Staff took confidentiality and information security seriously. When outsourcing the telephone answering service to an external company to improve phone access, the service carried out appropriate checks, signed a formal agreement and completed a data protection impact assessment. Staff submitted data and notifications to external agencies as required.

We did not look at Partnerships and communities during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

We did not look at Learning, improvement and innovation during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.