Panania Family Doctors: when extra help and guidance made all the difference

Located in the southern suburbs of Sydney, Panania Family Doctors is home to a small, tight-knit team that prides itself on its contribution to the community. Recognising that it’s okay to ask for help, Panania Family Doctors reached out to QIP Consulting for guidance in setting up their new general practice.

Originally a private practice, Panania Family Doctors, previously known as Panania Family Clinic, independently serviced the Panania community from the early 1990s. Dr. Seham Fahmy, now Practice Principal, joined in 2002 when she began practicing as a GP.

Several years later, the practice was purchased by a corporate organisation, and though the appearance and services changed, several GPs stayed on with the corporate organisation with a commitment to provision of comprehensive care to their longstanding patients. In early 2019, Dr. Fahmy was told that the corporate who owned Panania Family Clinic had determined it was in all parties’ best interests to close the practice and relocate the doctors to a sister site a few kilometres away.

After thinking about all of her patients that relied on the practice for their care, Dr Fahmy knew many of these patients, for health, physical or logistical reasons, would not be able to make the trip to the sister surgery.

In order to ensure her patients would continue to receive the care they had relied on for years, Dr. Fahmy, at great risk to herself, chose to step away from the corporation and take the practice back to its roots by opening her own independent surgery in the now-vacant building. Once Dr. Fahmy had set the wheels in motion, a longstanding receptionist and one other GP also chose to stay with Dr Fahmy, and Panania Family Doctors was born.

Despite all of her best intentions and fierce passion to serve her community, Dr Fahmy had never owned a practice before, and admits to feeling overwhelmed with the seemingly endless paperwork, legislative requirements, and constant priorities. Recognising that she was in need of extra support, Dr. Fahmy chose to reach out to AGPAL for assistance, who in turn referred her to the consulting arm of the AGPAL Group of Companies – QIP Consulting.

A couple of weeks before opening day for Panania Family Doctors, an expert consultant from QIP Consulting joined Dr Fahmy and her team at the practice. This consultant had been tasked with supporting the Panania Family Doctors team to work through their accreditation self-assessment and create an action plan to ensure the new surgery opened with best practice processes in place.

Between the practice team and QIP Consulting, Panania Family Doctors finished the day with a comprehensive, step-by-step report and action plan to implement the RACGP Standards for general practices 5th edition into their practice by opening day.

The QIP Consulting team recently caught up with Dr. Fahmy to get her thoughts on her recent service experience:

What prompted you to seek support from QIP Consulting?

When I had to take over the practice, one of my key worries was as to how I would manage undertaking the process of accreditation, which I had no idea how to do at all, while also trying to set-up my business.

So thankfully, a dear friend advised me to search for help, which is when I found the lifesaving team at QIP Consulting.

Can you tell us a little bit about your experience with the QIP Consulting team, the services you utilised them for and the support provided?

From the first phone call with Riley, I felt that I found a treasure. I was talking to her with tears of distress and an overwhelming feeling that I didn’t know where to start, but the reassurance and support I had was beyond description. After that first phone call, I felt that there was hope here with my goal and that I was not alone.

We were also lucky to have Riley as our consultant who came to our rescue at the practice. We spent the whole day going through our online self-assessment and Riley took the time to highlight every positive thing we were already actively doing. She did her best to draw my attention to every positive point possible to eliminate my distress and made us a very comprehensive plan to tackle all the issues that required attention in order to assist us in getting through our accreditation. While doing that, Riley kept reminding me and my team that if we do everything right from the start this will be the base for our ongoing success in the future.

I can honestly say that my tears turned into great relief by the end of that one day and I can’t thank Riley enough.

What did you enjoy most about engaging QIP Consulting?

I enjoyed the professional handling of all tasks and the abundant support when I needed it most. I felt that Riley was my personal life coach. I contacted her every time I felt challenged by the whole process and her words of encouragement and positive energy were excellent motivation to keep our entire team going and on track.

How have QIP Consulting’s services made a difference in your practice?

They were the only reason that I thought I could go through the rough road of starting a practice and leading the team through the accreditation process. The amount of support and resources, attention and care were beyond what I could ever imagine and their support was worth more than just a financial investment.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I could not have done it without QIP Consulting (my Quality Inspiring People), that is for sure!

QIP Consulting first supported Dr. Fahmy and her team in May of this year. Since then Panania Family Doctors has been working to create and implement policies and procedures, maintain registers and finalise their selfassessment.

The team is now ready to undertake their on-site accreditation assessment after only four months of operation, and feel confident and excited for the process. Their practice is up and running in full swing, and back to providing the dedicated care they are known for to all of their patients, much to the delight of their community.

They know that if they need any support in the future, QIP Consulting is on hand to assist them. QIP Consulting has a comprehensive range of consultancy services to support their health and community clients’ individual needs – everything from multi to single framework accreditation preparation, business set-up, management and operational activities, strategy and leadership direction, team and cultural development, and everything in between!

If your practice would benefit from some guidance through the accreditation process or wants support in any other aspect of your business, contact QIP Consulting today.