Outstanding Practice
I am delighted that our General Practice in Glenridding has been awarded an outstanding rating by the CQC. Glenridding Health Centre received three ‘Outstanding’s’ (Well-Led, Caring, Responsive) and two ‘Good’s’ (Safe and Effective).
The regulators praised the way Glenridding Health Centre meets the needs of a rural population with a strong person-centred culture and a highly motivated staff group who treat their patients with compassion, dignity and respect, involving them in their care and decisions about their treatment. The practice was also praised for its clear leadership structure, and together with Cumbria Health on Call had an inspiring shared purpose.
The practice was the only one of 40 practices in the Clinical Commissioning Group area to achieve 100% for patient satisfaction with reception staff, while patients rated them the joint highest in the county for overall satisfaction and confidence in the nursing team and joint second highest in the GP’s.
Hannah Mason was interviewed on BBC Radio Cumbria and you can listen to the interview here:
This is a real accolade to the hard work and dedication to the staff involved in this fantastic result. A huge well done to everyone!
Recruitment
Recruitment continues to be positive and new doctors have been recruited under the tier 2 sponsorship scheme, with one doctor commencing employment in December. A GP who was also recruited from the 2016 RGCP event commences employment with CHoC in January 2018.
Extended Access for General Practice
CHoC are delighted to have secured a 100 hour contract for delivery extended access across south Cumbria, to be fully implemented with the new model by March 2018. This services offers a range of appointments across Health Care Assistants, GPs and Chronic Disease Management ran by Nurse Practitioners. GP Practices will be able to book directly into EMIS slots from their practices, where the range of professionals will undertake consultations at four locations: Kendal, Barrow, Grange and Ambleside. This is an exciting opportunity for the CHoC team to be involved in delivering general practice at scale across the 8-8 7 day period, in line with the GP Five Year Forward View.
This is excellent news that it is being delivered locally here in Cumbria by an out of hours social enterprise organisation.
Fellowship News
Some of you may be aware that Neil received a Fellowship from the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) on Friday, this is the RCGP’s ultimate honour and achievement for GPs who have made a significant contribution to general practice, and it is a huge tribute to Neil’s dedication to general practice. I’m sure you’ll all join in our congratulations to Neil!
Winter
As you are all aware the service is becoming busier, the cars are currently out frequently undertaking visits in sometimes difficult geographical locations, especially as the temperature has plummeted below zero degrees in the past week or so. CHoC demonstrate a number of avoidance schemes that assist both NWAS and the Acute Trust in ensuring that patients are diverted from A&E where appropriate. This work can never be underestimated, and gives a huge benefit to the system as a whole.
BBC Radio Cumbria ran a series of features regarding NHS pressures, and I spoke about CHoC and the ongoing work that it undertakes to ensure that primary care is managed for two thirds of the patient’s week. I explained that continuing care is a large part of this role, ensuring that patients who are house bound and who have chronic disease problems, and who are palliative receive continuity of care at vulnerable times in their lives across an extensive period of time. You can listen to the interview here:
As we approach the Christmas and New Year shut down in which we are operating over seven days, I am confident in the ability of our teams to continue delivery the range of services that we do over this prolonged and difficult period. The support given to both our A&E and ambulance colleagues can never be underestimated as CHoC provide extensive support in ensuring that patient’s are diverted from the front doors of the hospital in line with our vision is of the right patient in front of the right clinician at the right time.
Please do let me know any areas of excellent practice that you would like me to share in this regular blog.
Best wishes
Susan
Chief Executive