The traditional model for GP Practices has been to work in isolation, each one researching, drafting and working to their own customised policies and compliance standard. The most time consuming part is to engage with every single member of staff to ensure they have read and understood everything. Combine these two aspects and you get some idea of the enormous duplication of effort between member Practices.
An average practice with 20 staff could save between £12,500 and £15,000 in time if it followed a ready-made standard for policies, training, and compliance where the Practice Manager did no customisation and just followed a standard set by the PCN. Time saved does not result in cash in your hand, but it does make life less stressful and frees up resources for care rather than paperwork.
What most Providers are not aware of:-
- There is no requirement to customise policies - Even some inspectors don't know this
- You only need a maximum of 50 policies to comply with the regulations
- Simplified policies are acceptable and desirable for staff, and easier to share
- Hundreds of policies are great as a library, but try not to mix them up with your core standards
