Developing a facilitation model to promote organisational development in primary care practices

Area of Science:

• Primary Care Management
• Healthcare Quality Improvement
• Organizational Development

Background:

• Effective general practice organization is crucial for health improvement.
• The Maturity Matrix tool assesses and stimulates organizational development in general practices.
• The role of practice visitors as facilitators for practice-led development is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and explore a facilitation model for supporting practice teams using the Maturity Matrix.
• To enhance organizational development and quality improvement in general practices.

Main Methods:

• A qualitative study using transcript analysis of Maturity Matrix sessions.
• A facilitation model was constructed based on literature review.
• Facilitator skills were compared against the developed model in UK primary care settings.

Main Results:

• The facilitation model identified four key areas and eighteen skills.
• Facilitators excelled in structuring sessions, obtaining consensus, and managing group dynamics.
• Stimulating consistent team learning emerged as an area for improvement.

Conclusions:

• Facilitators require thorough preparation for their role.
• General practices need protected time to maximize the use of quality improvement instruments.
• The evolving role of practice visitors as facilitators is vital for fostering practice ownership of quality improvement.