Baslow Health Centre

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 assessed 7 quality statements from this key question. Our rating for this key question is now good. We found that leaders were very compassionate and inclusive and staff felt very well supported and valued. The provider had clear and effective governance processes which supported the safe delivery of care. Staff were clear on their individual responsibilities and knew who was accountable for each aspect of the service.

This service scored 82 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Staff and leaders ensured that the vision, values and strategy had been developed through a structured planning process. The practice had a clear vison for the future. Staff had been involved in the development of the practice’s vision and values and had developed a visual aid in the shape of a tree with branches. Each branch held a practice value. It was clear from speaking with staff that this visual aid supported their knowledge of the practice’s values. The culture within the practice was extremely positive, happy, open, blame free and unified. Staff felt valued by the leaders who listened to any concerns they had and acted on them. Leaders were always fair and treated everyone equally. One member of staff told us that since starting to work at this practice they were enjoying their job again. Leaders described their staff as amazing and valued by the practice.

The practice’s philosophy was to provide a safe and personalised, high quality general practice care to individuals and families, with complimentary diagnostics and medical specialities accessible through a network of secondary care providers.

Leaders had the experience, capacity, capability and integrity to ensure that the organisational vision was delivered and risks are well managed. The practice manager and GP partners were 100% supportive to staff and people, all of the time and went the extra mile to support their staff. Partners were visible, extremely approachable and communication within the practice was supported by a weekly bulletin which was very effective. Staff commented that working in the practice was like being part of a small family. Several members of staff that had worked in other practices prior to Baslow Health Centre told us the care and compassion provided to people and staff members was something they had not experienced at their previous places of work. Staff felt listened to by the leaders, extremely valued and that the team went above and beyond to meet the needs of people.

Systems were in place to ensure that staff were recruited in line with legal requirements. Leaders demonstrated they understood the challenges to quality and sustainability. Systems were in place to ensure that staff were aware of leads in specific areas so staff knew who the most appropriate person was to go to for support or advice.

Staff were aware of who the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian was and what their role was in supporting staff. Leaders fostered a positive culture where staff felt that they could speak up and that their voice would be heard and acted upon. Staff were encouraged to raise concerns and were supported to do so.

Systems were in place to support staff to whistle blow or to speak with a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian if they had any concerns. There was a positive culture where staff felt they could raise concerns and their voice would be heard.

Leaders valued the diversity in their workforce and made reasonable adjustments where required. Leaders ensured there were effective and proactive ways to engage with and involve staff, with a focus on hearing the voices of staff. Staff felt empowered and were confident that their concerns and ideas resulted in positive change to shape services and create a more equitable and inclusive organisation. Staff had completed training in equality and diversity and understood their role in promoting this.

The practice had identified 2 wellbeing champions to support staff working within the practice. Staff surveys had been completed to engage with and involve staff and there was a focus on hearing and acting on staff voices.

Leaders and managers supported staff, and staff were clear on their individual roles and responsibilities. There were effective communication systems in place. Leaders were aware of the main challenges to delivering good quality care and described what was being done to address them. Succession plans were now in place. Leaders met with staff regularly to complete appraisals and performance reviews.

The provider had established governance processes that were appropriate for their service. There was a suite of policies and risk assessments to manage risk and support governance within the practice and staff could access them. A business continuity plan was in place to support the practice to continue to deliver services in the event of an unplanned disaster such as loss of domestic services or a pandemic. Leaders held regular practice meetings with staff, during which they discussed clinical concerns and emerging risks. Leaders clearly recorded any actions arising from these meetings and ensured they shared these with staff. Staff took patient confidentiality and information security seriously.

Staff and leaders worked in partnership with key organisations to support care provision, service development and joined-up care. For example, local voluntary services such as The Red Cross and The Citizen’s Advice Centre to provide support to carers through their carer’s coffee morning. The practice had gathered feedback through the Friends and Family test from carers that attended their carer’s coffee morning. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Carers stated the meetings were very supportive, extremely beneficial and they felt better after attending the meetings because they had been able to share problems and worries with people that understood. The practice had an active Patient Participation Group (PPG). A representative from the PPG told us that their views were acted on to improve services.

Leaders understood their responsibilities to people by collaborating and working with other services to support people. They held regular multidisciplinary meetings to enable this, for example when safeguarding vulnerable people and managing the care of people near the end of their lives. Staff worked with key organisations to enable joined up care for example, the Primary Care Network and the Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Feedback from the NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) was very positive. They shared that leaders were always open and transparent and shared any issues and concerns they had. The provider worked well with other practices in the local Primary Care Network and shared their experiences and learning. Representatives from the practice actively participated in the ICB clinical governance leads’ meetings and shared any learning and updates with their practice team afterwards.

Processes were in place to work in partnership with key organisations and agencies to support the provision of care and joined up working. For example, district nursing teams, community matrons, Health Visitors, the Patient Participation Group and the local Primary Care Network.

The practice had multiple systems in place to gather feedback from people to make improvements to the service provided. For example, feedback from the Patient Participation Group, patient surveys, the Friends and Family test and feedback forms. As a result of some of the feedback received, a new telephone system had been purchased to improve telephone access to the practice. Leaders supported the upskilling of their staff which had led to an improvement in systems and processes. The practice ran a monthly carer’s coffee morning to provide a safe space for carers to socialise and discuss any problems. It also provided educational sessions such as dementia awareness and basic life support training. The provider had assessed the effectiveness of the group through feedback from the Friends and Family test.

The practice used significant events, complaints, patient feedback and audits to drive improvements within the practice. There were processes in place to ensure that learning occurred when things went wrong and from examples of good practice. There was a strong sense of trust between leaders and staff.