Severn Surgery

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

The practice has a stable, core team of GP partners with clear lead roles and responsibilities. The provider was open and transparent and completed a series of actions to ensure concerns highlighted during this assessment were promptly addressed, such as staff training. There was a quality improvement plan in place including areas such as improvements in clinical areas and better access for patients.

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.

Staff were aware of the shared vision and strategy and supported each other to achieve this. Leaders demonstrated a positive, compassionate, listening culture that promoted trust and understanding between all members of staff which focused on learning and improvement.

Equality and diversity training was undertaken by all staff to better understand the needs of staff and the practice population. Leaders had weekly meetings to ensure effective governance through a set agenda and implemented change when appropriate.

Staff told us that the change in leadership has encouraged openness and honesty, positive practice culture and development which positively impacts patient care.

The leadership team were effective in changing the culture of the practice which had now been embedded and sustained. They were knowledgeable within their role and prioritised the quality of the service they deliver with appropriate support to all staff.

Staff told us they were able to raise concerns to all staff due to the open culture at the practice, leaders demonstrated honesty and transparency and promoted staff to raise concerns.

The practice had a freedom to speak up guardian and signposted staff to the Integrated Care Board should they not feel comfortable to raise internally. The practice had various methods for staff to speak up such as a suggestion box, regular meetings, appraisals and leaders were approachable at all times.

Leaders ensure there are effective and proactive ways to engage with and involve staff, with a focus on hearing the voices of staff with protected equality characteristics and those who are excluded or marginalised, or who may be least heard within their service. Staff felt empowered and were confident that their concerns and ideas resulted in positive change to shape services and created a more equitable and inclusive organisation.

Leader ensured all staff could be heard through various routes of communication such as, suggestion box, staff survey, appraisals, meetings and being approachable at all times through an open door policy.

Interviews with staff and leaders demonstrated there were clear governance arrangements that supported staff to deliver high quality care and treatment that was tailored to the needs of the local population. Staff we spoke with were clear about their roles and responsibilities. Staff also told us how and who they would raise feedback, suggestions, and concerns to when required.

Policies, processes, and systems to support governance and management of the practice were managed by the GP partners and the management team. There were regular meetings during which issues significant to the delivery of clinical care was discussed and reviewed. There was an up-to-date business continuity plan in preparation for major incidents. The practice generally had good oversite of governance arrangements however, we found a gap in staff training where no staff member had completed fire safety training, the practice were responsive in our findings and assured us this would be completed as a priority.

Conversations with the Patient Participation Group proved there was a good relationship between the practice population and the provider, they had communicated well to help guide changes in the phone system at the practice.

We found staff and leaders are open and transparent, and they collaborate with all relevant external stakeholders and agencies.

Staff and leaders engage with people, communities and partners to share learning with each other that results in continuous improvements to the service. 'They used these networks to identify new or innovative ideas that can lead to better outcomes for people.

The management and leadership team met weekly to discuss challenges within the practice and ways in which they can improve the quality of care to better serve the practice population and improve relationships with external agencies.

We found significant improvements had been made since our last inspection, staff told us about learning opportunities they had been given to further develop their skill set and branch into other roles. The practice demonstrated a positive learning culture which was inclusive to all staff which improved the working environment and care provided to patients.

Staff were supported to prioritise time to develop their skills around improvement and innovation. There was a clear strategy for how to develop these capabilities and staff are consistently encouraged to contribute to improvement initiatives. Staff had protected time in their diary to complete training or projects, the practice leaders were enthusiastic in regards to developing their workforce.