Wychbury 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

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, 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 clear shared vision, strategy, and culture. Its vision was built around the values of compassion, aspiring for excellence, respect, and education. These values were supported by a mission statement that staff were familiar with.

Leaders demonstrated a positive, compassionate, and listening approach, and equality and diversity were actively promoted. We found strong and effective leadership in place, with clearly defined lead roles. Team members told us that leaders were visible, and that the workplace culture promoted equality and was free from bullying or harassment.

Staff we spoke with were aware of the Freedom to Speak Up processes, had received relevant training, and had access to policies containing internal and external contact details. Notices were displayed at each site.

Staff had access to clinical supervision, learning and development opportunities, and educational support, with all staff able to use the online learning system. The service provided regular education sessions and supported flexible working. It was also a recognised training and research practice.

The practice had a realistic strategy and supporting business plans to ensure sustainability. The leadership team were committed to working collaboratively with their Primary Care Network (PCN) and the local community to educate and achieve positive outcomes for their patient population.

There were systems in place to ensure compliance with the duty of candour, and effective processes supported communication and shared learning. Regular staff meetings were held, and the management team encouraged the reporting of incidents as part of continuous improvement.

The service had inclusive leaders at all levels who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment, and support, and who embodied the culture and values of the organisation. Leaders possessed the skills, knowledge, experience, and credibility to lead effectively. The 7 GP partners were supported by a practice manager, operations manager, HR lead, nurse clinical manager, and IT lead. All partners and senior leaders held designated lead roles within the practice, providing clear areas of accountability. For example, one GP partner was responsible for overall clinical governance and standards, another served as the Caldicott Guardian, and there were designated leads for sustainability (‘green lead’) and finance. The operations lead oversaw activity across all sites, supported by a reception manager and reception supervisor, while the nursing lead provided oversight of the nursing team and infection control.

Staff told us that leaders within the service were approachable and receptive to feedback and suggestions, and that their wellbeing was considered, their views respected, and concerns acted upon. This included making reasonable adjustments to support staff in carrying out their roles. Given the large number of staff employed ‘Wychbury Updates’ were provided to staff on a fortnightly basis to ensure that information and feedback were communicated effectively across the organisation.

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 primary care network. Staff were aware of how to raise concerns, and we saw examples where staff had used the arrangements in place to positive effect.

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.

There were policies and procedures in place for the safe recruitment of staff. Other policies included recruitment, equality and diversity, bullying and harassment and grievances.

All staff had access to regular appraisals, one to ones, coaching and mentoring and revalidation. There was an induction process in place for newly appointed staff and staff told us that they were supported and felt able to ask for advice. Staff told us they were encouraged to develop within their roles and training opportunities were available.

The service had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. They used these to manage and deliver high-quality, sustainable care, treatment and support. They acted on 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. The service held a variety of meetings with their staff. This included: Safeguarding meetings, practice meetings, clinical nurse meetings, PCN meetings, partners and management meetings, multi-disciplinary meetings, clinical mentoring meetings, respiratory focused meeting, palliative care meetings, daily GP brief meetings and reception meetings.

The service had established governance processes that were appropriate for their service. Staff took patient confidentiality and information security seriously. Managers met with staff regularly to complete appraisals and performance reviews. Staff could access all required policies and procedures.

The service ensured there were opportunities for service-wide learning which was communicated across the sites in a variety of ways. For example, education events, practice newsletters, ‘Wychbury updates’, practice meetings and partner meetings.

The practice carried out regular audits to monitor service provision and improve the quality of services provided. For example, medicine related audits, access, complaints, significant events and patient feedback.

We found the provider to be highly responsive in addressing areas identified during our assessment, with some actions implemented on the day of the site visit and others shortly thereafter.

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.

Leaders told us they worked with stakeholders and the local community. The practice was part of a Primary Care Network (PCN) which provided enhanced services to patients. The PCN met regularly to deliver services to meet patients’ needs and to support care provision and service development.

The practice offered extended access, flu and covid vaccination programmes. Staff had made adjustments and collaborated with local services to further support community healthcare services.

A Patient Participation Group (PPG) was in place, registered with the National Association for Patient Participation (NAPP). The practice had 24 registered PPG members. We spoke with one member who told us they were involved in education and improvement initiatives, including digital access, communication, cervical screening uptake, aortic embolism awareness, and immunisations. The group had also taken part in a carers’ event held at the Cradley Road Medical Centre. The provider also organised coffee mornings, charity events, and fundraising activities to support various causes and raise money.

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 provider demonstrated a strong commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility, achieving Silver Accreditation through the RCGP Green Impact for Health Toolkit at the time of our assessment. Over the past 12 months, the practice focused on staff education in motivational interviewing to support lifestyle changes, promoting healthy choices and daily exercise, completing a quality improvement project on the safe disposal of inhaler devices with patient communication, and collaborating with the social prescriber to address fuel poverty among vulnerable patients.

The leadership team held regular staff meetings to share learning from incidents and complaints and monitor the quality of the services provided. Whole practice education sessions took place on a quarterly basis, where topics included safeguarding, neurodiversity and transgender.

The practice had a quality improvement plan in place to help drive service delivery. This included regular monitoring of the appointment system. The move over to total triage, was in the process of being planned with an online survey triage sent out to patients in May 2025 to gather feedback. The provider worked collaboratively with stakeholders to improve the experience of people using the service and to support the wider needs of the local community.

The practice operated as a training practice, with 4 GP partners serving as trainers. At the time of the assessment, there were 3 GP trainees working within the practice. The practice actively participated in research and was currently involved in the Dare2Think project.

The practice provided clear direction and robust support to all trainees and to both clinical and non-medical prescribers, including daily reviews and discussions to monitor progress and ensure high standards of care.