Salters Medical Practice

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 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 practice 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 involved all staff in the development of the practice. For example, all staff had contributed to the development of the practice vision and strategy and involved them in exploring a change in their logo.

The practice 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. Staff told us leaders were compassionate and supportive and responded to any concerns raised. We saw the leadership team worked with other practices in the Primary Care Network (PCN) and were engaged in the development of primary care services within the local area.

The practice fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. The practice had an established Freedom to Speak up Guardian both at the practice and externally with the PCN. Staff were aware of how to raise concerns and felt confident appropriate action would be taken.

The practice valued diversity in their workforce. They worked 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.

The practice 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 acted on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and shared this securely with others when appropriate. Leaders gave examples of where staff had been upskilled to provide succession for roles. 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. Managers held regular practice meetings with staff, during which they discussed clinical concerns and emerging risks.

The practice understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services worked seamlessly for people. They shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement. There was an active Patient Participation Group (PPG) who represented the views of people using the service, who met regularly.

The practice 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. Leaders were aware of the challenges the practice faced. They met weekly to enable them to address these in a timely manner. All staff were encouraged to put forward and test out new ways of working. For example, they recognised the high workload that reception staff were under to manage the tasks that were sent from various clinicians. As a result, reception staff were then allocated to specified clinicians to manage the workload better. Feedback from staff was positive about this change. We received many examples of how staff had been given opportunities to develop and progress within the practice.