Enter and View: The Robert Darbishire Practice

The Robert Darbishire Practice serves the local population in Rusholme. The practice treats roughly 520 patients per day and employs 65 staff members with shared/PCN staff not included in that number. Rusholme is an inner city area which is close to two Universities with a number of international students. The area has seen several waves of migration and has a diverse community with an increasing population

The purpose of our visit to the Robert Darbishire Practice was to: 

• Observe the environment and routine of the venue
• Speak to patients about their experience in the practice, focusing specifically on the appointment booking system and consultations
• Give staff an opportunity to share their opinions and feedback about the service

Overall we found that staff were welcoming, polite and informative to support us with our visit. Inside the building, here was a decent level of signage towards toilets, lifts and treatment rooms among other parts of the practice. Moreover, there were a variety of notice boards across the waiting room which included information about the staff.

Furthermore, the waiting area and wider practice itself was comfortable and uncrowded. There was ample seating and space to manoeuvre a wheelchair. Temperature levels were not uncomfortable despite the outside heat on the day of the visit.

However, HWM staff observed a potential issue whereby due to the large screens between the staff and patients at the reception desk, conversations between the two were loud enough for other people in the practice to be able to hear.

To read our full list of findings, subsequent recommendations and a response from the service provider, please see the report in the download link below