Hebden Bridge Group Practice wins Pride in Practice award
Friday, 19 February 2016
Hebden Bridge Group Practice (HBGP), supported by Voluntary Action Calderdale (VAC), are the first practice in Calderdale to received their Gold Pride in Practice Award.
Pride in Practice, delivered by LGBT Foundation (lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans foundation), is a quality assurance support service that strengthens and develops a GP Practice's relationship with their lesbian, gay and bisexual patients.
The staff at Hebden Bridge Group Practice had the award presented to them by Laurence Webb and Dale Maskell from LGBT Foundation for delivering fully inclusive health care services to their patients.
Hebden Bridge Group Practice is a thriving GP practice that serves a population of 19,000 patients across 3 sites in Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd and Luddendenfoot.
The practice was originally introduced to the award by Voluntary Action Calderdale who facilitated and paid for the practice to undertake the training and assessment required to gain the award.
Sarah Longfield of Voluntary Action Calderdale, said, "We are thrilled to have been able to support Hebden Bridge Group Practice to gain the Pride in Practice award. It is a testament to the commitment the practice has shown in providing inclusive healthcare to their patients."
The training session provided by LGBT Foundation, involved all practice staff attending a session on lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) awareness. The training also looked at how to ask questions in an inclusive way, how to use sexual orientation monitoring effectively and what small practice changes could be made to help LGBT patients feel more welcome and improve their relationship with their GP Practice.
Tony Martin, Business Manager at Hebden Bridge Group Practice said, "We're really proud to be the first practice in Calderdale to get the award and we hope it will encourage others to follow suit"
The Pride in Practice award at Hebden Bridge Group Practice has also been commended in the practice's latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) report: "The practice had received a Gold Standard award for 'Pride in Practice' in recognition of the acknowledgement of the specific needs of their lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) patients"
LGBT Foundation, the organisation who deliver the award are a national charity delivering a wide range of services to lesbian, gay and bisexual and trans (LGBT) communities.
The Pride in Practice award was developed by LGBT Foundation to allow LGB people to trust their GP practice and to be open and honest about their sexual orientation with their health professionals.
The Pride in Practice award is also endorsed by Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP).
Laurence Webb who is the lead on Pride in Practice at LGBT Foundation said, "I really enjoyed working with this practice. Although they were already quite knowledgeable about LGBT people's needs, they were really enthusiastic in the training session and were keen to learn anything that could support them make their service even more inclusive, which is great!
Huge congratulations to them on being the first Calderdale practice to get a Pride in Practice Award, and very well deserved Gold Award it is too!"
To find out more about the Pride in Practice award, please contact LGBT Foundation on 0345 330 30 30 or pip@lgbt.foundation.