Forum’s dream to create a building with a sense of wellbeing started three decades ago when the practice decided to rebrand itself from ‘medical’ to a ‘health centre’. Often going against the NHS tide, Surinder took upon himself the role of translating practice’s vision of an outstanding facility, which reflected Forum brand and patient service it represents.
Forum’s vision centred on wellbeing and preventative healthcare as much as diagnosis and management. Patients being able to better self-manage their journey is a critical step in creating a sustainable health and social economy. Promoting an environment, where vulnerable patients ‘only need to tell their story once’ is not just rewarding for staff but it also provides a more cost-effective NHS estates strategy, bringing together health and social care. It avoids duplication of work by sharing knowledge of patients and thus improving patient journeys and contributing to NHS sustainability.
In February 2015 a funding opportunity presented itself as part of a 4 year Improvement Grant proposing to improve primary care services. The long-standing practice recognised through its growing size they were dealing with a better-informed population whose needs were changing. GP Five-year Forward Plan sought to re-shape traditional primary care by necessitating infrastructure improvements, re-designing services, developing and streamlining the workforce. Forum’s vision to bring together defragmented services into a more cohesive patient journey, improve staff wellbeing and creative innovative environment became key objectives. The submission reflects the successful completion of the building eight months ago and the in-use outcome and feedback. The practice was awarded an Outstanding rating by CQC in December 2016, which combined with the business success of the practice reflects Forum’s continuous impact on the local landscape of primary care in Coventry and Rugby.
