FROME Medical Practice has been recognised with a national award for its outstanding work in recycling and working in an environmentally friendly manner.
Last week, Frome Medical Practice received the National Union of Students (NUS) Gold Award for its “Green Impact for Health”, from Professor Mayur Lakhani, President of the Royal College of General Practitioners.
The award was developed by the NUS in 2015 as part of its ‘Green Impact for Health’ campaign. The University of Bristol, Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare joined with the NUS to back the initiative.
General practices from across England compete to show how they are working in an environmentally and economically sustainable way. The most successful practices are recognised with a gold, silver or bronze awards.
Presenting one of just two national Gold Awards to Dr Helen Kingston, senior partner at Frome Medical Practice, Professor Mayur Lakhani said, “I am very proud to have been able to give such an award to the Frome Medical Practice. I was already aware of the outstanding reputation of the practice, with its pioneering work over 20 years, its ‘Outstanding’ overall rating from the national inspector, the Care Quality Commission, and accolade of Somerset Practice of the Year in 2017.
“However, what is particularly notable is that even though the NHS and the practice is under such great demand for its services, the practice has nevertheless shown exceptional vision, leadership and determination in its efforts to successfully tackle the issues of sustainability, recycling and environmental responsibility.”
Thanking Professor Mayur Lakhani and the NUS, Dr Helen Kingston said, ‘‘Working on the award and adopting a ‘green impact policy’ has helped us actually change the way that we work. Staff within the practice have always worked hard to improve services to patients as well as making the practice a dynamic and rewarding place in which to work.
“The framework of the award also offered opportunities for us to benchmark areas of existing good practice alongside areas where we felt we could make improvements to patient care, staff well-being and of course our overall environmental impact. With nearly 30,000 patients, working for the award also gave us the chance to continue with and improve upon the work that were already doing, recognising and encouraging community approaches and partnerships, rather than relying on medication. Our holistic approach to patient care is at the core of what we are trying to do. Our ethos aligns perfectly with what the Green Impact Award is all about.”
As part of that commitment to working with the community, one of the key partners identified by the GP surgery was Frome Town Council, who have already carried out an energy audit on behalf of the practice.
“We are of course delighted to have won the Green Impact Gold Award, but for everyone here at the practice this is very much still the early part of a journey, with the ultimate aim of continuing to improve the patient experience as well as making hopefully a significant contribution to our environment,” adds Dr Kingston.
Congratulating Frome Medical Practice on their award, Dr Ed Ford, a Somerset GP and chairman of the Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group said, “Frome Medical Practice is showing that general practice can play an important role within their community by setting an example for recycling and environmental awareness. Scientific research* continues to show that clean air and a clean environment is directly linked to health and wellbeing of patients and the communities we serve.”
Contributing to Frome Medical Practice’s Gold Award success was:
• Its improved energy efficiency and reduction of both use and costs of resources in areas such as paper.
• Its working with RefillFrome to reduce single plastic cup use.
• Its encouragement to patients to recycle items such as inhalers.
• Its greater focus on staff wellbeing, from lunch sharing days to having a far greater feedback on new ideas.
Above: President of the Royal College of General Practitioners Mayur Lakhani (centre) presenting the Gold Green Impact Award to members of the green impact team at Frome Medical Practice, from left senior partner Dr Helen Kingston, associate GP Dr Rebecca Hall, practice manager Karen Creffield and IG and IT specialist Gareth Hannam.