Following an official CQC inspection in October this year, the Fortius Clinic has been rated as 'Outstanding', which is the highest level of praise possible from the quality assessors.
In her overall summary the Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services, Dr Rosey Benneyworth, said "There was a continual drive to further improvement, with flexibility to redesign service delivery to meet new challenges. We saw innovation and a commitment to engage with others to highlight and share best practice".
Innovation and a commitment to engage
Fortius Clinic was founded in 2009 and specialises in orthopaedics and musculoskeletal (MSK) medicine. Fortius operates three outpatient sites across Central London, the Fortius Surgical Centre and a Joint Replacement Centre in partnership with Bupa Cromwell. Fortius outpatient clinics provide outpatient consultations, diagnostic scans and interventional radiology services. Patients are treated by sub-specialists who cover all orthopaedics including hip, knee, groin, shoulder, foot, ankle, spine, hand and wrist, podiatry and pain conditions.
Staff go above and beyond
Inspectors praising the open culture, a consistent approach to continuous improvement in all areas and a clear vision to deliver high quality care for patients. They noted that staff went above and beyond for their patients, working especially hard to meet holistic needs and make the patient experience pleasant as possible.
Inspectors noted the warmth and compassion with which consultants treated all patients. Systems and processes were in place to ensure that patients were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in decisions about their care and treatment.
Key findings of outstanding practice included:
- Clear governance framework, underpinned by policies and procedures which were understood and followed by staff.
- Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They described a positive culture, a genuinely open and transparent approach to raising concerns and responding to risks. Staff were complimentary about the leadership and felt well supported to develop within their roles.
- A continuous drive to further improvement with flexibility to redesign service delivery to meet new challenges
- Innovation and commitment to engage with others, highlighting and sharing best practice, embedded audit practices drove quality improvement and patient safety.
Fortius Chief Operating Officer, Nicola Aspinall says, ‘We are delighted to have been recognised as outstanding. We have consistently focussed on quality and service delivery across the whole organisation to promote a culture of safety and continuous improvement, and this is, therefore a very proud moment. We receive compliments on a daily basis from the patients we care for, patient satisfaction surveys and feedback, however when recognition comes from a regulator following inspection and scrutiny, it is very significant.’
Head of Inspection for Primary Medical Services in London, Antony Hall, said: ‘Fortius Clinic boasts strong dedicated leadership and a staff that is prepared to go the extra mile for their patients. I can only congratulate all involved in helping to get an outstanding CQC rating.’
Consultant orthopaedic and trauma surgeon Mr Nick Savva, author of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) for the treatment of plantar fasciitis (heel pain), operates a London clinic from the Fortius Clinic.
