Solent GP 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

We assessed all quality statements under the Well-led key question.

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.

Staff told us the practice leaders were inclusive, approachable and visible and described the culture of the service as open, inclusive and supportive.

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.

Staff demonstrated a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities and that of others within the practice. Staff we spoke with described an open, inclusive and supportive culture, stating they found the organisation to be a positive workplace.

There was a practice mission statement which was readily available to staff. The learning culture was demonstrated through meeting minutes which showed performance, incidents, patient feedback and complaints were routinely discussed & learning identified. This was shared further with external stakeholders and people who used the services via the primary care engagement team and integrated neighbourhood teams.

Staff told us the practice leaders were inclusive, approachable and visible and described the culture of the service as open, inclusive and supportive. Leaders told us the welfare of their staff was paramount.

Staff were encouraged and empowered to lead on projects that suited their own professional areas of interest. They spoke proudly about the work and felt they had been given the opportunity to develop their own leadership skills.

The management team demonstrated they understood the challenges to quality and sustainability. They had identified the actions necessary to address these challenges.

Work within the practice had been recognised in a number of awards, including an award for work with carers, quality improvement, and a National project. Furthermore, the practice had a staff member who had been awarded with the NHS England health care assistant national award 2024.

Staff we spoke to were able to identify the freedom to speak up guardians and were able to raise concerns without fear of retribution. We received staff feedback as part of the inspection process which highlighted there was an ‘open door’ policy and leaders welcomed feedback for service improvements.

The practice had a freedom to speak up policy in place with named individuals who worked both internally and externally within the Trust and the local primary care network (PCN). There were opportunities for staff to raise feedback about the service through the annual staff feedback survey. Actions had been taken in the last feedback survey and were raised in the staff forum project.

The service reviewed incidents via an electronic reporting platform and feedback was given to staff where appropriate. We saw examples of incidents which included appropriate investigations being carried out. When something went wrong, patients received a sincere and timely apology in line with Duty of Candour and were told about any actions being taken to prevent reoccurrence.

There was a zero-tolerance policy in relation to the abuse of staff with mechanisms in place to protect people and minimise the likelihood of reoccurrence.

Staff we spoke to told us they had not experienced discrimination or discriminatory behaviour whilst working at the practice.

Staff said the practice partners arranged social engagements and told us the team supported each other. The staff team described themselves as a diverse group who worked together, others described the team like a second family. Staff reported they discussed their working hours with their line manager and/or practice manager if they needed greater flexibility in their role or needed to change.

There was evidence from policies that leaders took action to continually review and improve the culture of the organisation in the context of equality, diversity and inclusion. For example, an 'ally' role was built into recruitment processes to eliminate bias. There was no evidence of discrimination built into any of the policies we reviewed. Staff had undertaken training modules in equality, diversity and human rights. A staff survey had been conducted which demonstrated the practice had collected, analysed and responded to staff feedback. The practice celebrated the diversity of the team, participating in themed lunches and a celebration of all holidays.

Staff we spoke with were clear about their role, responsibilities, and how they interact with other staff. They told us they had access to policies and procedures to support them within their role and attended regular meetings where discussions about the practice, such as complaints and significant events, were discussed. Leaders told us about the ways in which they monitored and mitigated risks. They were aware of the practice’s low performance in childhood immunisation and cervical screening uptake and were working on ways to improve this.

The provider had established governance processes that were appropriate for their service.

There was a meeting structure in place and minutes were made available to staff who could not attend. Policies were in place and accessible to staff. Staff used data to monitor and improve performance. For example, GPs regularly reviewed data showing their accident and emergency attendance figures, and cancer outcomes data. There was a Caldicott Guardian in place and effective arrangements for the availability, integrity and confidentiality of data. Workflows for communication and pathology results were up to date at the time of our assessment. Managers met with staff regularly to complete appraisals and performance reviews.

As part of the assessment process, we asked the practice to invite patients to share their experience of the service. From the feedback we received we saw no indication of concern in this area.

Staff and leaders told us they had strong relationships with healthcare professionals within the local community to support care provision and joined-up care. Staff spoke positively about the work that was happening in the local community, and were proud to have made an impact.

We spoke with the local Integrated Care Board ahead of this assessment. From the feedback we received from them there was no indication of concern in this area.

The practice had found a traditional patient participation group (PPG) did not suit their local demographic. There were systems and processes in place to instead gather feedback from partners in patient care such as other stakeholders within primary, secondary and community care as well as staff and leaders. The practice focused on delivering care in a way that supported individual care pathways.

Leaders told us the practice was involved in a ‘Green’ project in conjunction with the local commissioners, based on reducing the carbon footprint of medicines. In particular, switching patients with asthma from salbutamol inhalers to a lower carbon-based salamol inhaler. Audit results from 2024 showed 726 out 768 patients (92.5%) had received an updated asthma review with management plan guidance resulting in patients being prescribed the salamol inhaler.

The provider was listed as a training practice which helped support and mentor advanced clinical practitioners and nursing associates. Healthcare assistants had development opportunities for trainee nursing associate roles.

There was an established, significant and sustained culture of continuous and creative learning, innovation and improvement based on evidence and local need. For example, the practice was involved in the NHS England Optimise Project, working with secondary care and other practices across Hampshire to deliver optimal evidence-based care.