Dr Neeta Ghosh-Chowdhury Also known as Hilltop Medical Practice

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 in April 2016, we rated this key question as Good. At this assessment, the rating remains the same because we found no issues with leadership, management and governance.

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 and human rights, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and understanding challenges and the needs of people and their communities.

The service had an inclusive leader (responsible individual) who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment and support and embodied the culture and values of their workforce and organisation. The responsible leader had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. They did so with integrity, openness and honesty. Staff told us that the responsible individual at the service was approachable, modelled the values of the service and responded to any concerns raised. The service worked with other services within the primary care network.

The service fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. The service had established Freedom to Speak up arrangements with another practice in the primary care network. Staff were aware of how to raise concerns internally and externally.

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. Policies and procedures to promote diversity and equality were in place. Staff who worked at the service were multiculturally diverse and multilingual which helped with patient population.

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. Staff we spoke to were clear on their individual roles and responsibilities. The responsible individual had oversight of all clinical and administrative tasks. Staff could access all required policies and procedures. There were regular practice meetings, during which clinical concerns and emerging risks were discussed. The meeting minutes were clearly recorded including any actions arising from the meetings and these were shared with staff. Staff took patient confidentiality and information security seriously. However, the management arrangements at the service raised questions about how sustainable the pressures would be for the provider and the effectiveness of business continuity plans for the service.

The service understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services work seamlessly for people. They share information and learning with partners and collaborate for improvement. The service with the patient population including the patient participation group (PPG) to improve service delivery in conjunction with community health services and the primary care network.

The service focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They encouraged creative ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome and quality of life for people. They actively contribute to safe, effective practice and research. The service was proactive in improving the quality of the service received by the patient population through audits of system and clinical audits. Feedback provided to the service during the assessment process were followed promptly with evidence to support the actions completed. This showed the learning culture embodied by the service led by a sole-trader to improve on service delivery.