Practitioner Health Programme (PHP) has been rated Outstanding overall by the Care Quality Commission.
PHP, provides treatment to doctors and dentists throughout England who are experiencing mental health and addiction problems. PHP was rated Outstanding for being effective, responsive and well-led. It was rated Good for being safe and caring, following an inspection in January 2019.
There was a strong focus on learning and improvement throughout the organisation. The service had an active Patient Participation Group and CQC inspectors saw evidence that the input from this group was considered a valued resource.
PHP was committed to identifying groups of patients with particular needs and providing resources for them. It ran a number of therapy groups, including ones for ‘hard to reach groups’. The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided.
The service, based in Lambeth, south London, has developed an online appointment booking app, which allowed patients to book appointments with a member of staff of their choice.
The management team had taken great care to ensure that the needs and wellbeing of patients was at the heart of everything they did.
There was a strong commitment to sharing learning externally, including with regulators, Royal Colleges and employers, in order to highlight areas where practitioners needed extra support. There was also a willingness to contribute to research, working groups and media interviews to reduce the stigma suffered by practitioners who experienced mental health illness and addiction.
Staff understood patients’ personal, cultural and religious needs. There was a particular acknowledgement of the difficulties faced by clinicians in seeking help for mental health issues. The service had been specifically designed to enable clinicians to access help in a confidential, supportive and non-judgemental environment.
Head of Inspection for Primary Medical Services in London, Antony Hall, said:
“Staff and management at Practitioner Health Programme deserve full credit for the Outstanding service they provide.
“The stigma surrounding mental health can be felt even more severely by clinicians - and PHP works hard with patients in its care to alleviate this.”
The stigma surrounding mental health can be felt even more severely by clinicians - and PHP works hard with patients in its care to alleviate this
Antony Hall, Head of Inspection for Primary Medical Services in London