Overview of the Year 2023-23

Here’s an Overview of the Year as presented by management at the Annual General Meeting of Stamford’s Patient Participation Group, showing improvements made between January 2023 and January 2024.

• Sustained and ongoing recruitment and retention, including the appointment of new GP Partners, Salaried GPs, Patient Service Advisors and Dispensary Staff.
• CQC report published, showing progress in all areas and an improved grading.
• Trackable trends including an increase in appointments offered, reduced telephone waiting times, increasingly positive patient reviews and a reduction in complaints.
• 4117 flu vaccinations and 3137 Covid vaccinations were delivered at the surgeries and in care homes.
• Patient surveys allowing us to pinpoint key areas of focus.
• Range of team members, equipped to help every demographic in our community, including the elderly, housebound, care home residents, or those who need support with social problems, isolation or mental health issues.
• Ongoing and constructive relationship with stakeholders including the Patient Participation Group, Integrated Care Board and Care Quality Commission.
• New patient-focused initiatives, including Anima, health kiosk and updated website.

Care Quality Commission Report

Our latest Care Quality Commission report was published in February 2023.

We went from our previous judgement of ‘Inadequate’ to one of ‘Requires Improvement.’ 

This, along with ‘Good’ ratings for being ‘Effective’ and ‘Well Led’ and the lifting of special measures, demonstrates our team’s commitment to improve. 

We are not where we need to be but, with the continued hard work of our team, we anticipate a positive future.

The CQC said: 

• The practice had carried out a significant amount of work to improve the service since the last inspection. 
• Patients mainly received effective care and treatment that met their needs. 
• The practice had effective systems in place for the appropriate and safe use of medicines, including medicines optimisation. 
• There were sufficient systems and oversight in place to ensure the dispensaries were adequately and safely managed. 
• Appropriate standards of cleanliness and hygiene were met.

Tracking Trends

Average call waiting times reduced:

• January 2023: Over 23 minutes average wait time for a total of 9.9k calls.  
• November 2023: Under 17 minutes for a total of 10.8k calls.

We receive a third of calls between 8am and 9am. To cope with periods of peak demand we train colleagues from across the practice to handle calls.

Appointments delivered per thousand patients:

• January 2023: 557  
• November 2023: 661  

The national average of total appointments delivered per thousand patients (November 2023) was 459

Clearing backlogs:

• January 2023: Admin letter backlog - 117 per thousand patients
• November 2023: - 3 per thousand patients 

Training the next generation

We are proud to be involved in training the next generation of doctors and nurses. Four of our GPs are student trainers.  Each year we support student doctor placements and are about to resume the same for nursing students.   

A trainee doctor said:  'Dr Sian Dronfield - our GP supervisor, is genuinely such a lovely and caring person and an excellent supervisor. She really cares about our education, as well as doing whatever she can to make our experience at Stamford as good as possible. Stamford has been one of the best placements of medical school so far, and I've thoroughly enjoyed my time here. I couldn't have asked for a better group of GP supervisors, and I'm sad to be leaving!’

A trainee nurse said: ‘I was able to give multiple injections as well as wound management and have a keen interest to work within the community. I have enjoyed my time here and would love to come back another time.' 

Introducing our Health Kiosk

We are delighted that, due to the generosity of patient donations, we have been able to purchase a dedicated ‘health kiosk’ to enable you to check your blood pressure, weight and other key metrics. 

The health kiosk is located in a private room, just off Reception in the Sheepmarket Surgery and it uploads all your vital data to your patient record.

It is easy to use and is takes about ten minutes from start to finish. If you use it prior to your medical appointment it means that we have all your current data to hand, leaving us with more time to discuss your current condition.

Next time you are in the surgery please take a look and try it out for yourself. You can use it at any time, there is no need for an appointment and it saves on clinical time, has alerts for any irregularities and allows us to customise your care pathway and treatment.

Published: Mar 5, 2024