Drs Jones & Blaylock Also known as Throckley Primary Care

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 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.

Leaders understood the challenges and needs of people and their communities and worked well with partner agencies to support people effectively. Feedback from those organisations was consistently positive.

All staff had contributed to the development of the practice vision and strategy, which was kept under review. All staff feedback, without exception, was positive about their working environment and how they were part of one team irrespective of their role.

The practice had a business plan which discussed the development of the business to 2026. In this they recognised what was important and where they wanted to improve. For example, clinical priorities working on specific patient groups, feedback from patients and further improvements in audit.

The practice was aware of the projected increase in the local population and was working with partner agencies to address future challenges.

The service had inclusive leaders at all levels who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment and support and embodied the culture and values of their workforce and organisation. Leaders had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. They did so with integrity, openness and honesty. It was evident that patients were at the heart of everything the practice did, and leaders demonstrated the importance of staff wellbeing to support them in maintaining good outcomes for patients.

Staff told us leaders were approachable, responded to any concerns raised and modelled the values of the practice. We saw the leadership team worked with other practices in the primary care network and were engaged in the development of primary care services within the local area.

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 confident to do so. Leaders demonstrated how they encouraged staff to raise concerns and staff felt their views and suggestions were actively taken on board.

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.

Policies and procedures to promote diversity and equality were in place. We saw senior leaders had addressed concerns related to discrimination. Staff had completed training in equality, diversity, and inclusion and were aware of supporting people with protected characteristics such as age, gender, religion, or disability. We saw and heard of no concerns with regards to workforce equality at any level including the recruitment of staff. Adjustments had been made to ensure all staff were valued, for example we saw adjustments to support staff, as appropriate, were in place.

The service had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. They used these to manage and deliver good quality, sustainable care, treatment and support. They act on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and share 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 together with named leads in place for key areas.

Staff knew where to access all required policies and procedures and understood the importance of patient confidentiality and information security. There were arrangements for identifying, managing, and mitigating risks and a major incident plan was in place. The provider had established governance processes that were appropriate for the service.

Managers held regular practice meetings with staff, during which they discussed topics such as clinical concerns and emerging risks, incidents and near misses, patient care and treatment patient feedback. Managers clearly recorded any actions arising from these meetings and ensured they shared these with staff. Administrative meetings were less frequent, and managers were trialling different ways of running these to ensure they were held on a regular basis for staff.

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. This included the local charity services run at the nearby community hall which the practice engaged with to help keep patients informed.

The provider worked with other practices within their primary care network to offer extended access, and flu and covid vaccination programmes. Staff had made adjustments to improve coordination of their service with community healthcare services, including through established meetings centred on the care of those at higher risk of hospital admission.

The practice engaged with the Integrated Care Board (ICB) primary care and their medicines management teams. The practice hosted trainee doctors to obtain experience of general practice.

The practice was also supported by a Patient Participation Group (PPG).

Freedom to speak up was provided for staff at PCN level at a nearby practice.

The service focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. For example, attending Consultant led palliative care training to increase knowledge of current treatment for their patients and families. 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 business plan was in place and set out how they were going to drive forward improvements and use good practice to improve care. Leaders encouraged staff to put forward and test out new ways of working and staff were proactive in sharing ideas. For example, a new evening surgery had been established.

All staff regularly listened to feedback from patients and the community, using it to shape and assess new ways of working. Patient feedback was generated on a monthly basis from the Friends and Family Test, and we saw the majority of feedback was positive. Negative feedback was investigated, and we saw evidence of learning.

The service was a training practice for post graduate doctors entering general practice as well as a teaching practice for medical students.

Leaders were testing and refining a new quality assurance tool to help peer-review clinical consultations. The existing tool has been adapted to suit the practice, and the GP partners were piloting it at the time of the inspection. The aim was to roll this out to include the salaried GP’s once the model had been agreed, to support appraisal processes.

The practice, including both clinical and non-clinical staff had participated in a local research pilot for persistent physical symptoms called Ways to Wellness. This looked at 8 areas of a patient’s life and which were scored and compared at different times to look for improvement.