Jenna’s joy at becoming Practice Manager of the Year

Jenna Johnstone, assistant practice manager at Peterloo Medical Centre in Middleton, recently scooped Practice Manager of the Year 2021 at the inaugural PMA Awards.

The Practice Managers Association (PMA) awards programme, which is in its first year, was set up to recognise and celebrate excellence in non-clinical managers and professionals across all areas of the health and social care sector. Winners had to demonstrate a dynamic input of real value to the practice, its patients and primary care network.

Jenna joined Peterloo Medical Centre in November 2017 after moving from a senior administration role at another GP practice. Jenna is one of three assistant practice managers at Peterloo Medical Centre where she takes particular responsibility for HR, complaints, research and IT.

Since joining the practice, Jenna has implemented a reception training programme which has been rolled out across Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale and will soon be rolled out more widely across Greater Manchester.

The programme enables reception staff to become competent in the fundamental daily skills needed to work in a GP reception role, the majority of which are the same across all practices, meaning that staff can work in other practices during times of need.

The programme was also used to train healthcare students at the beginning of the pandemic which meant they were able to join a bank of staff to cover reception duties when multiple staff were in isolation.

In May 2019, after a 20-year education break, Jenna also began studying an ILM level 5 in Leadership and Management which she completed in March 2021 earning herself a distinction.

Dr Gill Tonge, Senior Partner at Peterloo Medical Practice said: “The last eighteen months have been challenging to say the least for general practice, but with the support of non-clinical staff, like Jenna, who have gone above and beyond to ensure cohesiveness within the practice team, this has helped to maintain a quality service delivered to our patients throughout the pandemic.”

Unfortunately, Jenna was unable to attend the PMA awards ceremony which took place in October at the 2021 Best Practice Show at the NEC in Birmingham: however, she watched the event online and was delighted when she was announced as the winner.

Jenna said: “I am thrilled to have won this award and would like to thank all my GP partners and the team at Peterloo Medical Centre for their constant encouragement, backing and support.

“Special mention should also go to my tutor, Gill Phillips, at PMA for helping me to gain a distinction in my ILM Level 5 qualification, as well as the Primary Care Academy for supporting my reception training programme. Lastly, I would also like to thank my husband who continues to support me every day.”

Ian Jones, Operations Director at PMA recently attended Peterloo Medical Centre to present Jenna with her award.

Ian said: “The PMA Awards Programme 2021 recognises and celebrates excellence in management across all areas of the health and social care sector. All our winners and highly recommended recipients have demonstrated exceptional commitment. The judges commented, 'Jenna’s submission showed exceptional commitment to her role, the team, the practice and their patients'.

“PMA is delighted to recognise Jenna’s success, along with the many other successes across the health and care sector, especially during these challenging times.

“All of our winners have gone above and beyond in very difficult circumstances over the past twelve months.”