Epping GP Surgery Named 'Practice Of The Year' For Its Patient Access System, UK

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 13 Oct 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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The inaugural Management in Practice Awards recognised the achievements of UK general practice managers and practice teams in providing an excellent standard of service to their patients. The awards ceremony took place during the Management in Practice Event at the Birmingham NEC on 8 October - see www.managementinpractice.com/awards.

Practices across the UK nominated themselves by submitting written accounts of their projects, which were then shortlisted by a panel of expert judges in each category.

The Limes Medical Centre in Epping, Essex, has received the "Practice of the Year" award, sponsored by Wesleyan Medical Sickness, for improving patient access by creating a robust triaged access system. This enterprise involved the entire practice team, including a coordinating role for the practice's healthcare assistants.

The access system, which took 18 months to implement and has now been running for one year, has enabled the team to identify acute and chronic care pathways quickly, provide excellent continuity of care and enhanced satisfaction for patients, as well as improving staff motivation and skill mix.

Debbie Bodhanya, Practice Director of the Limes Medical Centre, said: "We were really pleased to win this award. It's recognition of all the work we've been doing around the access project. And it's a nice boost and a morale-lifter for our team."

Announcing the winner of the "Practice of the Year - Wesleyan Medical Sickness Award" at the ceremony, Judith Harvey, a GP and co-author of The Handbook of Practice Management, said: "Judging this award was an inspiring experience. We were looking for a practice that was thinking outside the tickbox, and had done something innovative."

Tim Mosley, Head of General Insurance at Wesleyan Medical Sickness, sponsors of the "Practice of the Year Award", said: "I take my hat off to all the practice teams who took part - I have huge respect for all of them".

In the other categories:

-- Polkyth Surgery in St Austell, Cornwall, won the "Design and Facilities Award". The surgery underwent a radical refurbishment in order to increase capacity and improve patient services.

Accepting the award, Dr Paul Travis from Polkyth Surgery said: "This means a lot to us and I'd like to thank all members of the team. We put the customer - our patients - first, and found that all our staff benefited. It was a great experience."

-- The Hunter Family Practice in Craigavon, Northern Ireland, won awards in two categories - the "Customer Care Award" and the "Innovation in Training Award", sponsored by AMSPAR (the Association of Medical Secretaries, Practice Managers, Administrators and Receptionists).

The practice went beyond obligations to disability legislation to provide outstanding improved access for deaf patients. In doing so, the project involved and motivated the entire practice team.

Lorraine Hughes, practice manager at the Hunter Family Practice, said: "I can't tell you how much this means to us. The feedback we got from our patients was wonderful, but the project also increased team motivation and team morale."

-- Sara Trow, a case manager and community matron from Blackpool, won the "Innovative Use of Technology Award", which recognised her commitment and dedication to patients through the use of telemedicine and other new technological means.

Barbara Stuttle, National Clinical Lead for Nursing at NHS Connecting for Health (CfH) and one of the judges of this IT award, not only presented Ms Trow with her Management in Practice Award, but also gave her the gift of a new laptop computer on behalf of CfH.

-- The Seven Brooks Medical Centre in Manchester won the "Practice Finance Award", sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland. The practice had worked hard to raise its Quality and Outcomes Framework score significantly, which had helped to maximise its income.

Presenting the "Practice Finance - RBS" award, Kavita Oberoi, an award judge and Managing Director of Oberoi Consulting, a provider of IT solutions to the NHS, explained: "This award is not just about finance but also about the patients."

Fellow judge Jane Gamble, a practice manager with a successful background in banking, agreed: "We were looking for a practice that was making the most of its income and expenditure, but also looking at how this affected the whole team and the patients."

Details of the Management in Practice Awards are available at: www.managementinpractice.com/awards

Management in Practice Awards, launched in 2008, are to take place annually, and are designed to recognise excellence and innovation in the primary care setting. Applications are invited from individual practice managers, teams of primary healthcare administrative staff or those working with them, who have undertaken projects to improve their practice, the care experience of their patients and the working practices of all their staff.

The Management in Practice Awards 2008 winners are:

CUSTOMER CARE
Winner: Hunter Family Practice, Craigavon, Northern Ireland

DESIGN AND FACILITIES
Winner: Polkyth Surgery, St Austell, Cornwall

INNOVATION IN TRAINING - AMSPAR
Winner: Hunter Family Practice, Craigavon, Northern Ireland

PRACTICE FINANCE - ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND
Winner: Seven Brooks Medical Centre, Atherton, Manchester

INNOVATIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY
Winner: Sara Trow, Case Manager/Temporary Community Matron, Lancashire Cardiac Centre, Blackpool

PRACTICE OF THE YEAR - WESLEYAN MEDICAL SICKNESS
Winner: Limes Medical Centre, Epping, Essex

About the award sponsors

-- The Practice of the Year Award was sponsored by Wesleyan Medical Sickness Wesleyan Assurance Society was first established in 1841 and still retains its mutual status today. In 1884 we began serving the needs of medical professionals and continue to do this today through Wesleyan Medical Sickness. www.wesleyan.co.uk.

-- The Practice Finance Award was sponsored by The Royal Bank of Scotland Group The Royal Bank of Scotland can help you purchase an established practice, start up a new practice, buy into a partnership or simply make the most of your business banking. The Royal Bank of Scotland provide a network of dedicated, specialist Healthcare Managers who's job it is to get to know you and your practice requirements inside out. www.rbs.co.uk.

-- The innovation in training award is sponsored by AMSPAR.

The Association of Medical Secretaries, Practice Managers, Administrators and Receptionists (AMSPAR) is a registered, nationally recognized awarding body and membership organisation. AMSPAR provides non-clinical qualifications included within the National Qualifications Framework for medical administrative and management personnel. AMSPAR aims to promote quality and coherence in the delivery of qualifications, and encourage and support standards of excellence in the pursuit of continuous professional development and lifelong learning. www.amspar.co.uk.

About Management in Practice and Campden Media

Management in Practice is a quarterly review journal produced by Campden Publishing that delivers accessible, relevant and informed news, in-depth articles and comment on all aspects of the practice manager role. It is part of a family of products and services, including events, exhibitions and online content. All these products are specifically designed for practice managers and their teams working across the UK and aim to promote best practice in primary care surgery management and provide expert comment on and analysis of the many complex issues facing practice managers.

www.managementinpractice.com is a free online service designed to complement the Management in Practice magazine. Visitors to the site can get daily news online or delivered direct to their inbox by email each week. In addition to news, there is also a complete archive of all past issues of Management in Practice, regular online comment and many other features, including video presentations from our latest live events.

Management in Practice Events is the largest free conference and expo series designed specifically to meet the educational needs of practice managers. Each programme features an impressive collection of speakers delivering highly topical and relevant presentations that contribute to attendees' professional development. These educational conferences are complemented by full and varied exhibitions featuring key charities, product suppliers, educational institutions, primary care services and recruitment specialists. In 2008, Management in Practice Events took place at:

-- Manchester - The Bridgewater Hall - Tuesday 10 June 2008 - www.managementinpractice.com/manchester

-- London - Business Design Centre - Wednesday 3 September 2008 - www.managementinpractice.com/london

A further event will take place at:

Birmingham - NEC - Wednesday - 8 October 2008 - www.managementinpractice.com/birmingham

Management in Practice Awards, launched in 2008, are to take place annually, and are designed to recognise excellence and innovation in the primary care setting. Applications are invited from individual practice managers, teams of primary healthcare administrative staff or those working with them, who have undertaken projects to improve their practice, the care experience of their patients and the working practices of all their staff.

Campden Publishing is a division of Campden Media (www.campden.com), a specialist business-to-business information provider. The company delivers essential information in two core markets - finance and healthcare. Our brands create high-quality content that is delivered to our audiences via the combined channels of print, online, research, conferences and exhibitions. Campden Media is a global organisation with offices in London, New York and Singapore.