Penistone Group PMS Practice

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• 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

The service had a shared vision, strategy and culture. Leaders had planned an event to re-launch the practice’s strategy with staff. Leaders had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. While staff generally reported feeling well supported, some highlighted the need for improved internal communication. This feedback was echoed in the provider’s staff survey, and we observed that appropriate actions had been taken to address these concerns. The service had clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and systems of accountability, supported by strong governance arrangements. There was a strong focus on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and across the wider local system. Leaders encouraged creative ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome and quality of life for people.

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 service had a shared vision, strategy and culture. Leaders told us they had a meeting event planned for December 2025 to re-launch the practice’s vision values and strategy with staff.

Staff told us they worked well and felt supported within their teams and all staff we spoke with were proud of the service they provided and wanted to provide patients with a high-quality service.

Leaders had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. They did so with integrity, openness and honesty. There had been several changes in leadership due to natural progression with 4 new GP partners appointed since 2019 and a new business manager in the last 12 months. There was low staff turnover with some staff returning after leaving. Staff generally reported feeling well supported, and we observed the leadership team actively collaborating with other practices in the primary care network (PCN) to develop services within the local area.

The practice had a whistleblowing policy and had established Freedom to Speak up arrangements. Staff were aware of how to raise concerns.

The service had established policies and procedures to promote diversity and inclusion within its workforce. While some staff expressed concerns that internal vacancy opportunities were not consistently communicated to all team members, we observed that staff were encouraged to develop within their roles and were supported in accessing professional development opportunities. All staff had completed training in equality and diversity.

The service had clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and systems of accountability, underpinned by good governance arrangements. These structures were effectively used to manage and deliver high-quality, sustainable care, treatment, and support. Leaders 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. The provider had established governance processes that were appropriate for their service. Staff could access all required policies and procedures. Staff highlighted that internal communication could be strengthened, a view also reflected in the provider’s own staff survey. In response, monthly meetings were introduced with departmental managers to create a dedicated space for discussing operational matters and facilitating two-way communication. Some staff noted early signs of improvement, although there was some uncertainty around how information was cascaded to wider teams and whether actions were consistently recorded. The service also held regular full team meetings to share key updates and strategic decisions. We saw the provider had a strategy meeting planned with staff for November to discuss staff support and culture. Staff took patient confidentiality and information security seriously.

The service 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 provider worked with other practices within their primary care network (PCN) to offer shared services. One of the GPs was recently appointed as the PCN Clinical Director, providing strategic leadership across the wider Penistone neighbourhood and supporting the delivery of integrated care for the practice and the local population.

The service had a strong focus on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They always encouraged creative ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome and quality of life for people. They actively contributed to safe, effective practice and research. For example, they had recently undertaken a project ‘incorporating patient reflections to improve cancer diagnosis in primary care’. Staff were encouraged to develop, for example, they were supporting a nurse associate to gain her nursing qualification. They were a GP training practice and one of their GPs had been invited to a national Primary Care Diabetes and Obesity conference to share good practice with other healthcare professionals.

The practice had a quality improvement plan in place to help drive improvements in services. They had supported in developing services. For example, they had piloted the national ‘Pharmacy First’ scheme which had since been rolled out to other practices. They had reviewed patient feedback and updated their appointment system to improve access by telephone, offer same day appointments and had also increased GP appointment length times to 15 minutes as a result of patient and staff feedback.

The charity who had worked with the service to identify patients affected by previous sexual trauma, commended the practice’s involvement in the programme stating that their commitment to the ‘Ask the Question’ initiative highlighted their dedication to tackling health inequalities and contributing to longer-term improvements in patient wellbeing.

The service was actively looking at ways to work with the community for the benefit of patients. They had recently had early discussions with a local football club regarding collaboration to ‘prescribe football’ as part of social prescribing and health promotion.