The Heron Practice

On this page

• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

We looked for evidence that the service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

At our last assessment, we rated this key question as Good. At this assessment, the rating remains the same.

This service scored 80 (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's vision of providing “Kind, Courteous, Consistent Care” was reflected in the way staff interacted with people. Leaders promoted a culture where every contact counted and where people were treated with dignity, respect and compassion. Systems were in place to support confidentiality, including information governance training, confidentiality policies and chaperone arrangements. Clinical records also included patient preference and history alerts, enabling staff to better understand individuals and provide personalised support.

People consistently described positive experiences of care. Friends and Family Test feedback included comments such as “courteous, kind, understanding staff”, “staff were polite, professional and friendly” and “the appointment was very prompt and staff very friendly and helpful”. Additional feedback described clinicians as supportive, knowledgeable and attentive, while the service maintained a compliments log which reflected positive experiences of compassionate care. Complaints relating to staff attitude were uncommon and were reviewed and acted on where necessary.

National GP Patient Survey data reflected people felt listened to and were treated with kindness. Staff we spoke with understood Gillick competency and there was a process to ensure young adults had control over their own privacy and the amount of parental involvement in managing their care and support.

The service treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

Patients’ personal, cultural, social, religious and equality characteristics needs were understood and met. Patient communication needs were met to enable them to be fully involved in their care.

The service supported people to make informed choices about how they accessed care and how their needs were managed. Through the service’s online triage system, patients could explain their concerns in their own words and indicate their preferred method of contact. Requests were reviewed by a clinician and directed to the most appropriate service, helping people access the right support while maintaining involvement in decisions about their care.

Staff also maintained a carers’ register and recorded consent for family or advocate involvement where appropriate. Referrals for equipment, adaptations and other support services were made when these would help people remain independent.

People were offered flexibility in accessing appointments. GP Patient Survey data showed that 71% of respondents were offered a choice of appointment time or day, which was above the national average of 57%. The premises also included accessible facilities, including wheelchair access, a hearing loop and an accessible toilet.

The service had effective systems to identify and respond promptly to people with urgent needs. All clinical requests received a same-day clinical review, with enquiries opened by a triaging GP within an average of four minutes. Urgent cases could be rapidly escalated to the duty doctor or urgent care team, which included GPs and paramedics. During the previous month, the service received 1,139 clinical enquiries, 28% of which were triaged to an urgent face-to-face or telephone appointment.

The service demonstrated a proactive approach to supporting vulnerable groups. Staff carried out registration drives and healthcare outreach work for asylum seekers and people residing in local contract hotels, using translated materials and working alongside welfare and resettlement services. This enabled people to be registered promptly and have healthcare, safeguarding and wellbeing needs identified sooner, rather than relying on individuals navigating access routes independently.

In addition, a "Meet Your Local GP" community drop-in event supported registration with GP practices, booking of health checks and navigation of healthcare services while helping to build trust between residents and healthcare professionals. Focus groups involving residents from diverse backgrounds identified barriers such as limited awareness of local services, travel costs, difficulties understanding healthcare systems and social isolation.

Learning from residents directly informed the development of a co-designed Welcome Pack, which provided information on healthcare services, mental health support, community activities, volunteering opportunities and routes into primary care. Residents determined the content priorities, ensuring the resource reflected their actual needs.

Patient feedback reflected the effectiveness of these arrangements. People described receiving excellent support, prompt responses and rapid contact following appointment requests. Staff also demonstrated flexibility when responding to unexpected healthcare situations, including assisting in an emergency involving a child who was not registered with the service.

Leaders recognised the importance of staff wellbeing in delivering high-quality care and had taken a number of steps to support and develop the workforce. Staff wellbeing initiatives included a funded public sector discount membership, team-building events, service-funded social activities and staff recognition awards. The service also operated a compressed “5 in 4” working pattern for patient services staff, offered flexible working arrangements and had introduced measures to support staff experiencing personal circumstances, including being a menopause-friendly workplace.

Staff were supported through protected learning time, clinical mentoring, in-house training and cross-training opportunities. Leaders had developed a resilient workforce model through the use of a skills matrix and cross-training across administrative and reception functions, reducing reliance on individual staff members and improving service resilience. The service reported reductions in sickness absence, a 60% reduction in locum expenditure and no significant backlogs across administrative functions.

There was evidence of a positive and inclusive culture. Staff survey feedback showed that staff felt supported, able to raise concerns without fear and confident that feedback would lead to improvements. Staff described strong collaboration between clinical and non-clinical teams and reported feeling valued and listened to by leaders. Nineteen staff members from both clinical and non-clinical teams participated in the survey. Staff described feeling supported by colleagues, managers and partners and reported a strong sense of pride in the practice and the services provided to patients. Despite the largely positive findings, the survey identified several areas for further development. These included strengthening internal communication, continuing to monitor staffing levels and workload pressures, improving recognition and celebration of staff achievements, and maintaining a focus on staff wellbeing and morale. Leaders reviewed these findings and identified improvement actions to address the themes raised.