Our 2024/25 annual round-up report is now available. The report highlights the impact of our support services over the past financial year, along with key updates on our programmes, project outcomes, and financial position for 2023/24 and 2024/25.
Access the full report here.
If you have any questions, please contact us at enquiries@onecare.org.uk.
Are you looking to improve your practice’s performance and resilience? Our general practice support team (GPS) can provide you with a free practice health check to demonstrate your practice’s efficiency and capability. The check looks at access, workforce, finance, digital, strategy, business continuity and CQC, and can help identify capacity for improvement.
The GPS team takes a guided approach and consults with you by asking a series of questions ranging in complexity to determine your scores in each area. We recommend involving your members of staff who are best placed to discuss each domain and allow up to three hours for the discussion of all areas, to ensure accurate results.
By the end of the exercise, you will be presented with a heat map with scores related to how your practice meets each stage of the questions within each area. The team will also create a list of recommendations on how One Care can support you and add value or signpost you to alternative resources.
Practices who have used this service said: ‘The report was hugely helpful and contained clear and precise recommendations as to next steps we could take. I’m really glad we went through the exercise, and I would strongly recommend it to other practices.’
and ‘It was an excellent meeting and really appreciated by our management team. I would happily advise all to use this service.’
To find out more about a practice health check, please contact the GPS team practice.support@onecare.org.uk
To help practices improve patient access, identify efficiencies, and explore new ways of working, One Care’s general practice support team (GPS) offers free demand, capacity and activity audits.
The audits monitor the activity within your practice to help to build up a holistic view of your workload, and to provide you with the data to better understand your patient demand and ability to meet it. This also supports your future workforce planning and strategic decision making.
The range of audits capture the volume of patient demand, and gather insights into existing patient pathways, before mapping this against your practice’s capacity. Data is also collected to measure the volume of administrative tasks undertaken by practice teams, to help you identify opportunities to improve processes.
The GPS team is supported in this by One Care’s business intelligence team, who can provide further detail and analysis of population health management that, alongside the audit results, can enhance your practice’s strategic vision.
The digitised audits use Microsoft Forms and are designed in partnership with you to reflect your existing processes and protocols. They are also customised to answer any specific questions or identify data that you would like to find out. Support materials are provided to help you communicate to your practice team about what will be happening and how the information will be used.
The audits take place over a two-week period. When your audit is complete, the GPS team will summarise your data into a concise and streamlined format. They will also provide recommendations and highlight where they and other One Care teams can add value.
If you feel this service would be beneficial to your practice or would like further information, please contact the general practice support team: practice.support@onecare.org.uk
Our people services team now offers a mediation service to help practices settle disputes and develop healthier working relationships. The service focuses on finding solutions that everyone is happy with, improving communication, and setting clear parameters for future co-working.
Gertruda Grudyte, One Care’s senior HR advisor, said: “A lot of workplace conflict is left to develop and worsen. With early intervention we can help stop issues escalating.
“Our mediation service is informal and voluntary. Mediation can only happen when everyone is open to it and wants it to succeed so we work with both parties to a perceived conflict to make sure they want to be a part of it.
“We don’t apportion blame; it’s about working together to find a way to cooperate and work well in the future.”
What to expect
If you contact our team for mediation, they will arrange a free assessment to discuss the situation. You will be asked questions about the issue, and both parties will be asked if they’re willing to join mediation.
Following the initial assessment, and if both parties are happy to take part, separate and joint meetings are held to work towards a resolution. Due to the confidential nature of the meetings, managers are only told whether or not an agreement has been reached – no details are shared. As well as confidentiality, other careful rules of engagement are followed during the meetings, including honesty, openness, and courtesy.
Cost
The service is offered to BNSSG practices at a day rate of £450, although this can vary depending on the nature of the issue and how the practice wants to deal with it. The initial assessment is free of charge.
To find out more please contact people.services@onecare.org.uk
The One Care general practice support team (GPS) offer mentoring sessions for newly recruited members of practice management, to help them get up to speed with their new roles quickly.
The new staff support scheme uses the GPS team’s extensive experience working in practice and alongside practice managers to support you – whether this is your first time working in general practice or within the BNSSG area.
The GPS team is highly knowledgeable in all aspects of practice management and can provide tools, pragmatic guidance, hints, and dedicated time to focus on the support you feel you need. They can also introduce One Care and the rest of the local healthcare system, advising staff on the nuances of working within the BNSSG region.
For sessions covering systems such as TeamNet or EMIS, GPS can arrange for managers to meet with One Care’s digital team for a specialised session.
You will be entitled to six sessions (face-to-face or via Teams, providing tailored advice and dedicated sessions on CQC, general practice finance, and more. The team is also available for any follow-up questions on an ad-hoc basis.
The GPS team has been working with new members of practice management already, and a practice manager has found the service beneficial in their new role. They said:
‘One Care’s new staff support scheme was incredibly helpful in getting started as a practice manager. Having a knowledgeable point of contact at the end of the phone and email was hugely important and really helped me to find my feet. The service they provide to new staff is fantastic.’
If you are new to your role and feel that this scheme would benefit you, please contact the GPS team practice.support@onecare.org.uk
The NHS App project aims to increase the usage of the NHS App, promote digital inclusion, and reduce SMS costs by maximising messaging sent through the NHS App free of charge.
The project, which is funded by the ICB, has been in collaboration with practices across BNSSG, to ensure they understand the benefits of the app, how they can integrate it into their own workflows and how best to support patients in using it. Organisations such as the acute hospitals, AWP, local councils and Sirona sit on the project board and contribute to the project aims.
To reduce traffic to practice phonelines, the project has shared details of community organisations (e.g. public libraries and VCSE’s) with BNSSG practices, to provide patients with support and guidance on how to use the app to manage their care online.
The project has also launched a local communications campaign in which they sent NHS App promotional materials to all pharmacies across BNSSG.
The NHS App project:
The NHS App project provides free training to staff in general practice on the promotion and functionality of the app. Grace Mander, the project manager for the NHS App project, has said ‘This support has helped practices feel confident about promoting the app to their patients.’
Please reach out to Grace or the team at nhs.app@onecare.org.uk to understand how the NHS App can benefit your practice and your patients.