Enter and view: Firth Park Surgery

a { text-decoration: none; color: #464feb; } tr th, tr td { border: 1px solid #e6e6e6; } tr th { background-color: #f5f5f5; }

Healthwatch Sheffield carried out an Enter and View visit to Firth Park Surgery, a large teaching practice serving around 9,700 patients. The visit focused on access to primary care, particularly for excluded groups. Overall, Healthwatch found the practice to be highly engaged with its community, proactive in responding to local needs and committed to supporting a diverse patient population. Particular praise was given for its work with the local Roma and Slovak communities, who accounted for an estimated 10-15% of the practice population. 

The practice had made considerable efforts to improve accessibility. Services included online booking, same-day urgent appointments, early morning and late evening clinics, alternate Saturday appointments, and a dedicated weekly clinic for Roma and Slovak patients supported by interpreters. The surgery also operated a dedicated new-patient registration service and had introduced a multilingual electronic check-in system to reduce pressure on reception staff. Healthwatch found that the practice actively sought patient feedback through an established Patient Participation Group (PPG), which had influenced developments such as additional consulting rooms and specialist community services. 

A recurring theme was the complexity of meeting the needs of the Roma and Slovak population. Staff described challenges linked to language barriers, unfamiliarity with the UK healthcare system, high levels of deprivation, and specific health issues including hepatitis B, vitamin D deficiency, contraception needs and child health concerns. The practice had responded by developing tailored services, but staff reported that the increasing demands of this work placed pressure on resources and funding. Healthwatch noted that communication remained challenging because written information was often less effective for some members of this community, and recommended exploring additional multilingual information and engagement methods. 

Staffing was stable, with many employees having worked at the surgery for more than ten years. Healthwatch found a supportive and collaborative workplace culture where staff felt valued despite pressures on workload and resources. Patient feedback gathered during the visit was positive, with both Roma and non-Roma patients reporting satisfaction with the care received and few concerns around appointment access. The practice also offered a broad range of services including diabetes care, physiotherapy, counselling, maternity care, asthma support, vaccinations, minor surgery and occupational health. 

Healthwatch concluded that Firth Park Surgery demonstrated strong commitment to equality of access and community-focused care. Recommendations included maintaining the supportive culture within the practice, improving communication about services, analysing patterns in missed appointments (DNAs), exploring additional funding streams to support complex patient needs, and considering training to enable child blood testing to be carried out within the practice. Overall, the report described a dedicated team working hard to meet the challenges of a diverse and changing population.