Our commitment to quality

Commitment to quality

Our priority is always to reflect this commitment to quality in the experience of our patients. We have long been at the forefront of the drive to improve clinical and non-clinical service standards across healthcare, championing the need for more transparent, accessible reporting.

• We were the first provider to have all hospitals and surgical centres rated ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
• We deliver one of the country’s leading ophthalmology services, rated ‘Outstanding’.
• Our Bristol call centre received the first ever overall ‘Outstanding’ rating for an NHS 111 service.
• We are the country’s largest provider of healthcare in secure environments.
• Secondary Care Patient Safety Incident Response Plan (PSIRP).
• Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) policy.

It starts with the individual

Key to delivering the highest levels of quality care and service is the recruitment, training and monitoring of our teams. We recruit people with the best skills as well as a dedication to delivering the best care. We ensure they receive regular training and we frequently monitor their performance.

Constant scrutiny

We are committed to providing consistent, high quality services to local communities and regularly engage with our patients and service users to ask for their feedback.

We use this feedback to develop robust action plans to ensure we have a programme of continuous improvement. We encourage openness and the honest reporting of any issues and, in the event of any performance or service shortcomings, we ensure a full and open review is carried out and shared widely.

Care Quality Commission (CQC)

We not only scrutinise our own performance, but are regularly reviewed and monitored by external parties, not least the CQC. CQC is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. CQC make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and encourage care services to improve.

CQC monitor, inspect and regulate services. Their findings are published, including performance ratings, to help people choose care.

Our hospital division was the first in the country to have all services rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ by the CQC and our Bristol call centre received the first ever ‘Outstanding’ rating in the country for a 111 service.

Medical Practitioners Assurance Framework (MPAF)

The MPAF has been developed to improve consistency around effective clinical governance for medical practitioners across the independent sector.

CQC uses the MPAF’s principles in assessing how well-led an independent service is, with the framework a requirement of the NHS’ 2022/23 Standard Contract, which all independent sector providers of NHS-funded care must adhere to.

The framework was pioneered by Sir Bruce Keogh former National NHS Medical Director, with expert input from a balance of Independent Health Providers Network (IHPN) members and key external stakeholders, including the Patients Association, General Medical Council, Care Quality Commission (CQC), Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England/Improvement and Royal Colleges.

The MPAF contains key principles to strengthen and build upon the medical governance systems already in place in the independent sector. It sets out expected practice in a number of key areas. The MPAF is designed to align with existing legal and regulatory frameworks and work towards better implementation.

Leading the way in quality

Whether we’re in the top ten of best-performing hospitals for knee replacement operations or running endoscopy services that are considered among the best in the country, we don’t rest on our laurels but continue to push the boundaries and challenge the traditions of healthcare delivery.

View all of our Quality Accounts, Gender Pay Gap Reports and other legal documents.