In our next good ideas Q&A, we’re sharing steps taken by two BNSSG practices to help improve the wellbeing of their staff.

Debra Spencer, practice manager at Birchwood Medical Practice, and Paula Allen, health and wellbeing coach at Downend Health Group, discuss simple changes which have made big differences:

Tell us about the changes you’ve made to support your staff wellbeing?

Debra: we’ve introduced paid daily breaks for our staff. The regular breaks are now scheduled into our staff rotas to make sure all team members have time away from their work and desks.

Paula: we have invested in improving our staff spaces by adding sofas to make the break out area more inviting. We encourage all staff to take breaks.

What impact have you noticed?

Debra: Making staff breaks more official and planned into rotas in this way has definitely helped our staff to feel more valued and part of the overall team. It has improved relations between the different teams by encouraging non-work chat and discovering shared personal interests.

Paula: creating a dedicated space where staff can have a cup of tea and chat during their breaks has made a big difference to team morale. The space brings staff together, our new starters get to know the rest of the team, and generally everyone seems happier.

On a scale of 1-5 effectiveness how would you rate these changes?

Debra: I give our official staff breaks a 4!

Paula: I would rate our change as a solid 4 too.

And how can you tell your changes have been successful?

Debra: People feel more able to speak to any colleague as they now know them as a person and not just a clinician. People can hear their colleague’s tone of voice in a task, so communication has improved as positive intent is assumed.

Paula: our staff encourage each other to use the space and that’s a real indication of its success. Regular breaks are now being scheduled in everybody’s templates, and partners are setting an example by ensuring they show other colleagues that they value their own health and wellbeing.

Any advice to practices considering doing the same?

Debra: Just do it – we have not experienced any negatives; goodwill and a positive team ethos improve wellbeing for staff and patients alike.

Paula: creating a staff relaxation space obviously costs money but for us the improved staff morale is definitely worth it. I would encourage anyone to do the same.

This is the first in a series sharing good ideas which may help practices look at their ways of working.

Our Q&A focuses on CQC and how to raise awareness of it across your wider team.

Catherine Farrington, practice manager at Westbury on Trym Primary Care Centre, shares the simple measures she’s implemented and the big impact they’ve had:

What is the single thing that has most helped raise CQC awareness in your practice?

We have put up two CQC information boards. We have one board dedicated to ‘who does what at WOT’ which lists all our lead roles, and another that has all the health and safety posters, Display Energy Certificates, and information on where, for example, our emergency equipment is kept. All the day-to-day things everyone needs to know about.

And you also pose a CQC question of the week on the board?

Yes, the question of the week is put up on the white board where we hold our morning huddles. This keeps the CQC as a topic of conversation, and shows staff the information they need to know. Here are some of the questions we have had and answered on the board:

• where is the accident book?
• where is the fire assembly point?
• where is the emergency equipment?
• where is the Employer Liability Certificate?
• where do we have the CQC rating on display? Do we have to display our rating?
• who is our health and safety lead?
• who is our SIRO?

At the moment I tend to update the question but I plan to move to the management team coming up with questions too. I’d really like to get to a point where the whole team can come up with questions.

On a scale of 1-5 (5 being the highest), how effective do you think the boards have been?

I’d say 4 out of 5! The boards gives our team one place to go for the key information they need, which saves them having to search for it or ask where it might be. It’s a great visual prompt.

Have you noticed any specific improvements or outcomes, by doing what you are doing?

We’ve definitely noticed increased staff confidence from having as much information as possible in one place. Our staff don’t have to remember everything, and the information is constantly familiar and familiarity breeds confidence.   The boards keep CQC as a continued subject of conversation and focus rather just than being something you only do in the run-up to an inspection. Our building looks better with lovely notice boards too!

What else do you do to make sure your team is kept up to date with CQC information?

A staff newsletter. We’ve found the key is to keep it to one side of A4 so staff can read it quickly. On occasion we have an accompanying one side attachment with a CQC focus on subjects like information governance, or summarising a policy such as antibribery and fraud. We currently produce it monthly with occasional additional notifications when something changes i.e. Covid-19 vaccination guidance. However, we flex with the needs of the team and provide more frequent communications if updates are coming through thick and fast!

If your approaches were adopted by other practices, what resources do you think they might need to implement them?

A large notice board on a wall that people walk past frequently. A white board or a place on the wall to write the question of the week works really well. It’s a simple fix but we’ve found that it’s made a real difference to levels of CQC knowledge among the team. Treat the boards like a member of the team; regularly check-in with them to keep them up-to-date and regularly remind people that they are in place to help. If a board isn’t helping and isn’t being regularly referred to, then it is not reaching its full potential and it’s time for a performance review!

If your practice has any good ideas it would like to share, please get in touch: practice.support@onecare.org.uk

Achieving QOF points can increase a practice’s income. But making sure you’re maximising the opportunities to do so can be complicated and difficult. This is where our practice support and digital teams come in.

In 2022-23 Bedminster Family Practice only achieved 51.4% in its QOF rating – which equated to 326.7 out of a possible 635 points. The practice was struggling to maximise its QOF points and its corresponding funding.

During one of the support sessions for new staff provided by our general practice support team, the lack of QOF income was queried. This led to practice manager Denise Draper being put in touch with One Care’s digital team. The team spent time with Denise in her practice and went through Ardens QOF resources in detail, including the full range of EMIS searches.

And it worked – with One Care’s help, the Bedminster practice doubled its QOF points in 2023-24, up to just over 90%.

Bex Tilling, One Care’s head of digital support, said: ‘Ardens + is funded for every BNSSG practice by One Care. It offers a vast range of searches and templates mapped to QOF coding and it can be overwhelming. We sat down with Denise and went through Ardens with her, reviewing all QOF resources.

‘We also went through the EMIS QOF dashboard which showed Denise how her practice was doing, which patients were being overlooked, and what work was still needed.’

As well as spending time in the Bedminster practice, the team also completed the digital optimisation survey with Denise to see how good the practice’s use of technology was and where there was room for IT improvement.

Added Bex: ‘As well as the more formal help, our teams were also available for ad-hoc calls and enquiries from Denise. The support we offer is covered by the One Care subscription and is free to all BNSSG practices.’

Denise Draper, practice manager at Bedminster Family Practice, said: ‘Thank you to One Care for all the support and training sessions you have provided to the practice over the last 10 months. In particular, for the sessions regarding QOF plus many emails and conversations in between.

‘I have found the help from everyone at One Care to be invaluable for my own development, as well as that of the practice.’

Our teams are here to help you with all aspects of running your practice. If you need support with your QOF points, or have any other query, please get in touch: enquiries@onecare.org.uk

One Care is delighted to announce Julia Ross as the new chair of its board of directors.

Julia’s NHS career spans more than three decades, with over 20 years spent at a senior level. She was Chief Executive of two clinical commissioning groups; first in North West Surrey, and latterly Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire.

Since retiring in 2022, she has worked as an independent consultant, and served as a non-executive director for Pier Health.

She takes over from Dr Simon Bradley, who is retiring after five years as chair of One Care’s board.

One Care Chief Executive Officer Ruth Hughes said: “Julia has a wealth of experience in the healthcare sector, and knows the health landscape in BNSSG extremely well. She will be well known to many of our key stakeholders, and is perfectly placed to become the chair of our board. I look forward to working with her to build and develop One Care to provide the best possible service and representation for general practice in BNSSG.

“I’d like to thank Simon Bradley for his contribution to One Care’s development; his challenge to the organisation to think radically and at scale; and his dedication to the role of chair and his advocacy on behalf of general practice has been invaluable.”

To help make staff recruitment easier and quicker for practices, the GP Collaborative Board (GPCB) workforce programme has launched a new recruitment pool.

In the recruitment pool on TeamNet, practice management staff will be able to view details of applicants who have previously applied to work in BNSSG, and were considered highly appointable by the interviewing practice.

Kerry Millar, workforce programme manager, said: “We know how challenging recruiting staff can be, and practices told us a shared pool of candidates would really help reduce the amount of time they have to spend on advertising jobs and interviewing. The pool will streamline the process.”

In the recruitment pool, practices will be able to:

• see the applications/CVs and job descriptions for clinical and non-clinical candidates who have been interviewed by a BNSSG practice. The applicants were not successful, but considered by the practices who interviewed them as highly appointable
• contact applicants directly to discuss any employment opportunities
• see details of potential applicants who have expressed an interest in working in BNSSG, but have not been through an interview process

Kerry added: “The success of the pool relies on practices sharing the information of applicants they have interviewed but not appointed, so other practices can consider them. Luckily, sharing that information is quick and easy to do and helps everyone.”

To share candidates’ information:

• practices will need to add a data sharing agreement (DSA) paragraph and tick box (available on TeamNet or from One Care) to their application form
• candidates must have ticked the DSA box on their application form agreeing or declining consent to share their information
• send the relevant candidate details to recruitment.pool@onecare.org.uk

Kerry said: “The pool is here to help ease recruitment pressure for general practice and we want to ensure it’s working well. We welcome any feedback and suggestions for improving it.”

Only practice management staff can access the recruitment pool and can find it by using the TeamNet search bar. Full guidance including the essential DSA wording and FAQs are available on the recruitment pool page.

For more information, to ask any questions, and to provide feedback please contact kerry.millar@onecare.org.uk

Free to all BNSSG practices, One Care’s technology reviews take the guess work out of buying decisions and help you choose the right digital products and suppliers.

Our digital team – working with the ICB and SCW – carries out thorough assessments of potential suppliers to ensure what they’re offering is safe, compatible, and useable. This includes new technology products, office equipment and software.

Morgan Daly, One Care’s digital transformation lead, said: “When investing in any technology, we’re here to help practices choose the right, effective product for their needs. So before taking the plunge, get in touch with us and we’ll do a full evaluation of any product you’re considering. Our reviews not only offer peace of mind but also save valuable time and resources.”

The team’s recent technology reviews have led to BNSSG practices introducing new programmes, including:

• Emr+ which reduces admin time by automating letter writing and responses to SARs and similar
• Optimise BP, an app to support self-management of hypertension, which reduces the number of clinical contacts needed
• Automate’s robotic process automation tool, which files negative blood test results, saving significant admin time

Morgan added: “We’ve also reviewed a tool which is now providing a practice with access to NHS-trained remote receptionists who can take calls and deliver related admin work. This significantly reduced staffing pressures for the practice.

“Another successful review looked at a document management tool; and we supported the practice to negotiate a 25% reduction in costs.”

The technology reviews follow several steps:

• we discuss with practices their digital plans and timescales and any potential suppliers they have in mind
• One Care conducts an information governance, digital safety, and quality review with the supplier
• The team produces a report for the practice, highlighting any remaining issues. All reports are also made available for other practices to read on TeamNet

Morgan said: “I’d urge practices considering any new IT equipment or programmes to get in touch as early in the buying process as possible. We can help them make smart buying decisions.”

Please contact us to talk about your technology plans: digital@onecare.org.uk

We all know accurate data is at the heart of service and business decisions, and One Care’s business intelligence team is here to help with exactly that.

Working behind the scenes, our team helps practices, PCNs and local authorities use data to test the effectiveness of their services, and to target and improve patient care. Members of the team are all data experts and the information they provide is an essential future planning tool.

Each practice already has access to its own activity dashboard created by the team, which is updated regularly with key information about performance. But there are other ways practices can make use of the team’s expertise.

Harry Paul, One Care’s head of data, said: “Our experts are here to help practices make sense of their statistics. We’re always looking for new ways to help them extract the right data, and to use that data to shape the services they provide.

“We work with practices to see what’s needed. Often a problem encountered by an individual practice is also an issue for others, so we can work together to create a solution for all.”

A practice might, for example, want to examine data on specific patient cohorts. The team can pull the data for that cohort and demonstrate what interventions they’ve had and if they’re proving successful. Or a practice may want to examine its vaccination statistics so it can more effectively target future clinics.

Harry added: “More recently, we’ve been helping practices ensure they are correctly identifying appointment slots to make sure they’re paid correctly. And we will also be supporting the extended access initiative with a slot mapping exercise.”

On a wider scale, the team produces a monthly report for the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB) covering all aspects of general practice activity. The report includes about 1,200 different searches and the data shows everything from the number of patient contacts and prescriptions given across BNSSG, to how many blood and cholesterol tests were carried out. The report helps the ICB identify trends, and acts as a valuable prediction model.

The team is also working with the ICB and Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP) on the NHS mental health services data set, quantifying the volume and type of the workload undertaken by ARRS workers. And with South Gloucestershire Council, Bristol City Council and the ICB on ARTIs (acute respiratory tract infections) – providing weekly reports on how many patients per age group have been diagnosed with a range of respiratory conditions.

In addition to regular reporting and ad hoc projects, the team is also involved in research projects with two UK universities looking at risk predictors, and effective diagnostics for a long-term condition.

Harry said: “The data work we offer saves practices time and money. If a practice has even just a vague idea of what it needs, I’d encourage them to get in touch so we can talk it through and come up with a solution.”

You can contact the team on: business.intelligence@onecare.org.uk

The collaborative bank project has hit an exciting milestone, with the first shifts filled and completed by a member of the bank.

The collaborative bank uses technology from Ryalto to enable practices to offer shifts to other local practice staff, and be matched with colleagues who have the necessary skills and experience to fill them.

Nine practices across BNSSG are taking part in the initial pilot stage. One Care is also recruiting additional staff to the bank itself, including care navigators and medical secretaries. This will increase the agility of their workforce, offering a way for participating practices to fill gaps in their workforce to meet their patients’ needs flexibly and quickly.

Michéle Powell, PCN Delivery Manager at Phoenix PCN, said “The collaborative bank and the Ryalto app are helping us transform how we deliver care to our patients. The additional capacity it offers will be a fantastic tool to help us tackle winter pressures.”

The Ryalto app is also being used to great success in Network 4 PCN to manage shifts for vaccination clinics, with nearly 2000 shifts booked.