Bartholomew Medical Group

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. Staff feedback was overwhelmingly positive around the culture of the practice.

This service scored 71 (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.

Staff feedback we received was positive about the culture of the practice. We saw that there was a stable workforce in place and staff turnover was low. Staff were encouraged to share their ideas, this included reception staff altering roles and working on different workstreams every 2 hours.

The service was led by inclusive leaders at every level who deeply understood the environment in which care, treatment, and support were provided. They embodied the values and culture of both their teams and the wider organisation. These leaders brought the right mix of skills, knowledge, experience, and credibility to lead effectively. We saw that the leadership team worked with other practices in the PCN and were engaged in the development of primary care services within the local area.

Staff feedback was overwhelmingly positive about the leaders in the practice. They told us they were approachable and responded to any concerns that were raised. Some staff did tell us that they felt communication between teams could be improved. We saw that the practice was trying to overcome this with regular clinical meetings where information was shared. We also observed the reception team taking part in a staff huddle where important information was discussed and disseminated through the team.

The service 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 PCN. Staff were aware of how to raise concerns and fed back to us that they would feel confident to do so if they needed to. Staff we spoke with were able to identify who their freedom to speak up guarding was. Staff were also given training on freedom to speak up and whistleblowing.

The service valued diversity in their workforce. They work towards an inclusive and fair culture by improving equality and equity for people who worked for them. Staff told us they felt supported, were treated equally, and were free from bullying and harassment.

Policies and procedures to promote diversity and equality were in place. We saw that staff had completed mandatory training on equality and diversity.

The service did not always have clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability. We identified that medicine reviews were not always completed effectively, however, we found that the provider had identified this prior to the assessment and was working with their PCN to address this. Through our searches we also identified that some MHRA alerts were not being followed when medicine reviews were being completed.

We found that the provider 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. Managers met with staff regularly to complete appraisals and performance reviews.

Staff could access all required policies and procedures. 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 service understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services worked seamlessly for people. They shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement.

Despite continued effort the practice was not able to establish a Patient Participation Group, however we saw examples of how they engaged with patients in order to try and improve services. They produced newsletters and leaflets to try and encourage more patients to engage. They also utilised social media to share information with patients.

The provider worked with other practices within their PCN to offer extended access, and flu and covid vaccination programmes. The practice also worked with their PCN to provide a care home team who conducted weekly ward rounds for residents. This had reduced GP visits significantly.

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 practice had a quality improvement plan in place to help drive improvements in services. All staff were encouraged to put forward and test out new ways of working. We saw how a new way of working had been identified from a member of the reception team which the practice had implemented. This involved reception staff altering roles every 2 hours so that they were working on different workstreams such as answering calls, dealing with online requests and booking in patients at the front desk as well as other things. Staff were very positive about this and felt it contributed to their wellbeing at work.

The practice also had a trainee manager scheme. This was utilised with staff to ensure there was a succession plan in place.