England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has rated Five Elms Medical Centre in Dagenham, north London, as Inadequate overall.
The practice has been put into special measures, following a Care Quality Commission inspection in April.
Inspectors rated the practice as Inadequate in all areas for being safe, effective, well-led, caring and responsive.
A full report of the inspection, which details inspectors’ findings and highlights the areas where improvements must be made, has been published.
Areas where the practice, which provides GP care services to approximately 4,300 people living in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, was found to be failing included:
- Patients were at risk of harm because systems and processes were not in place to keep them safe
- The practice had no clear leadership structure
- Improvements to patient outcomes were hard to identify.
The provider has been told it must immediately carry out improvements, which include: taking action to assess the risk of, prevent, detect and control the spread of infections. Staff had not received training on infection prevention and control. The practice had not carried out an annual infection control audit since 2012.
The practice must also take action to assess the risks associated with fire and ensure that all staff receive training regarding patient confidentiality.
Michele Golden Head of General Practice Inspection – London said: “It is important that the people who are registered at Five Elms Medical Centre in Dagenham can rely on getting the high quality care which everyone is entitled to receive from their GP.
“We have now placed the practice into special measures – which means we will inspect again in six months’ time. This will enable the practice to access all the support it needs via NHS England, using the vulnerable practices scheme.”
Patients registered with practices being placed into special measures should be aware that the package of support being offered by NHS England and the Royal College of GPs will ensure that there are no immediate risks to patient safety at these GP practices whilst improvements are being made. These practices will not close.
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