Valley Medical Centre

On this page

• Overview
• Assessing needs
• Delivering evidence-based care and treatment
• How staff, teams and services work together
• Supporting people to live healthier lives
• Monitoring and improving outcomes
• Consent to care and treatment

We looked for evidence that staff monitored people’s care and treatment and supported them to live healthier lives. 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.

We did not look at Assessing needs during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Delivering evidence-based care and treatment during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at How staff, teams and services work together during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

The practice supported patients to manage their health and wellbeing to maximise their independence, choice and control. Staff supported patients to live healthier lives and (where possible) reduce their future needs for care and support.

The practice regularly used its social media to promote national initiatives (such as tackling obesity and stopping smoking), as well as specific, local initiatives and support which could benefit patients.

Staff created short, educational videos for patients (to be shared on social media) to help them better understand the services available to them and what to expect when they attended.

Leaders recognised how geographically isolated many patients are from core services. Valley Medical Centre is situated on the outskirts of Sheffield. Leaders knew there were limited public transport options to enable patients using them to access the city (which is where many key health and social programmes are based). To combat this, leaders proactively engaged with and developed strong relationships with other local services, including Stockbridge Community Leisure Centre as a key partner. Patients now have access to regular drop-in sessions locally at the leisure for support from organisations to improve their overall health and wellbeing.

More directly, staff referred patients to social prescribing link workers who directed and supported patients to access wider services appropriate to their needs.

Leaders had worked closely with Mencap (a charity that supports people with a learning disability) to improve access to annual health checks, vaccinations, preventative care, and to support with any reasonable adjustments required.

Leaders identified the risks to people’s health, including patients in the last 12 months of their lives and those with caring responsibilities.

The practice completed regular quality improvements audits to ensure it maintained an accurate palliative care register. Palliative care is specialised and focuses on relieving pain, symptoms and stress from a serious illness to improve quality of life. Leaders had processes in place to ensure people’s wishes regarding their preferred place of death were considered, discussed and accurately recorded.

The practice’s improvement work led to a significant increase in the recording of key information for this patient group and their choices. Patients requiring palliative care who had recorded a preferred place of death increased from 34.8% to 88% (between April 2025 and March 2026). Staff also attended bi-monthly palliative multi-disciplinary team (MDT) care meetings which ensured effective monitoring of and support for to this patient group. MDT meetings involve different specialist professionals discussing the best way to meet the needs of a patient. This helped staff ensure that patients approaching the latter stages of their life were appropriately identified and that individual wishes and preferences were recorded and followed.

The practice routinely monitored the care and treatment of patients to continuously improve it. They ensured outcomes were positive, consistent and met the expectations of patients themselves.

Clinical staff completed regular asthma reviews with relevant patients. They reviewed symptom control, inhaler technique, medication adherence, and patterns of reliever inhaler use. We saw evidence these reviews had led to patients being moved onto a different form of medication to improve their overall asthma control.

The practice had completed some quality improvement work to regularly identify and review patients (aged 18 years and over) who may have undiagnosed or unrecorded chronic kidney disease (CKD). Patients with CKD have kidneys which are damaged and slowly lose their ability to filter waste and extra water from the body. The practice now continually checks for patients with potential CKD. This enables staff to ensure these patients are monitored and reviewed appropriately.

The practice monitored patients on high-risk medicines to ensure they were safe. High-risk medicines carry a significant risk of causing severe patient harm or life-threatening complications if used, dosed, or timed incorrectly. For example, the practice completed some quality improvement work relating to female patients prescribed medicines which could cause risks during pregnancy. The outcome was that 100% of relevant patients (under the direct care of the practice) were reviewed appropriately and had a risk assessment completed.

The practice completed cervical screening in line with national targets. Sometimes referred to as a ‘smear test’, this is a quick test to check the health of a patient’s cervix to help prevent cervical cancer. Clinical staff held a database of relevant patients to ensure patients received appropriate regular testing and to monitor the outcomes of these. Staff proactively contacted patients to encourage attendance for tests. Patients were offered appointments at the practice’s ‘hub’ sites (offering extended access appointments outside of usual core hours) to allow flexibility outside of a patient’s working hours and closer to their place of work where possible. The practice actively promoted cervical screening in its premises and via social media to try to encourage more patients to arrange a test.

According to our latest verified data, the practice completed childhood immunisations in line with national targets, except in the case of children aged 5. However, unverified data provided by the practice showed evidence that staff had since completed 100% of the required immunisations for this age group. In line with their policy, staff had completed targeted follow-up of children identified as outstanding, including providing vaccinations opportunistically when the child attended the practice for another reason. The practice took a multi-disciplinary approach, with a range of staff contacting parents / guardians to provide support (and addressing any appointment barriers), reassurance, and key information to help them make informed decisions about their child’s healthcare and vaccinations.

We did not look at Consent to care and treatment during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.