We carried out a review of the data available to us about Dr Halina Obuchowicz on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Dr Halina Obuchowicz, you can give feedback on this service.
We previously inspected Dr Halina Obuchowicz’s practice on 22 June 2016. The overall rating for the practice was inadequate, with ratings of inadequate for the key questions of safe and well-led, and ratings of requires improvement for the key questions of effective, caring and responsive. The practice was placed in special measures for a period of six months. We then carried out a follow up inspection on 7 February 2017. The overall rating for the practice was requires improvement, with ratings for requires improvement for the key questions of safe, effective and well led and the practice was taken out of special measures. The full comprehensive report on the 7 February 2017 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Dr Halina Obuchowicz on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
We carried out an announced focused inspection at Dr Halina Obuchowicz’s practice on 16 November 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection on 7 February 2017. This report includes our findings in relation to those requirements.
Overall the practice is now rated as good and good for providing safe, effective and well led services.
At this inspection we found:
The practice had made improvements and addressed the issues identified in the previous inspection. Improvements included:
Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at the practice of Dr Halina Obuchowicz on 22 June 2016. The overall rating for the practice was inadequate, with ratings of inadequate for the key questions of safe and well-led, and ratings of requires improvement for the key questions of effective, caring and responsive.
The practice was placed in special measures for a period of six months. The full comprehensive report on the June 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Dr Halina Obuchowicz on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
This inspection was undertaken following the period of special measures and was an announced comprehensive inspection on 7 February 2017. Overall the practice is now rated as requires improvement.
Our key findings were as follows:
The practice had a clear process in place for reporting and recording significant events.
There were communication arrangements in place with colleagues to share and discuss significant events, safety alerts, updates to prescribing guidelines and any changes in clinical practice.
There was improved management of the prescribing of benzodiazepines.
Security of prescription pads had improved, and index numbers of batches issued to regular locum GPs were recorded.
Recruitment checks were in place for the majority of staff. Checks we made showed more work was required to fully embed this process.
Signed, up-to-date Patient Group Directions were in place. Patient Specific Directions where being used when required.
Checks on the day showed there was no backlog in patient note summarising.
There had been a number of audits conducted; further work was needed on quality improvement initiatives.
Figures from the Quality Outcome Framework (QOF) showed achievement of the practice to be higher than or in line with local and national averages.
Exception reporting was high and on comparison with the previous year’s figures, had increased in some areas. The practice had put measures in place to address this but further work was required in this area.
Feedback from patients we spoke with was positive; patients told us that they were treated with dignity and respect by all staff at the practice.
The practice had conducted a survey and updated its website to provide the results of their survey. The practice intended to produce an action plan on how any improvements to services would be implemented.
A number of improvements had been made in leadership at the practice but further work was required in this area.
There were areas of practice where the provider still needs to make improvements.
Importantly, the provider must:
Conduct recruitment checks on cleaning staff appointed to clean the practice and
seek and retain records in respect of locum staff sufficient to confirm their working status and evidence of indemnity cover.
In addition the provider should:
Conduct work to establish reasons for two consecutive sets of results, lower than local and national averages, on patient satisfaction with GP services.
Develop evidence of quality improvement initiatives.
Respond immediately when the process for dealing with significant events is not adhered to by locum staff and share feedback and learning from significant events with locum GPs involved.
Conduct work to assure that those patients excepted from care interventions are seen quickly, to reduce any negative impact on their health.
I am taking this service out of special measures. This recognises the improvements made so far. The service will be kept under review to ensure further improvements are made and that these are sustained. If the further required improvements are not made we will take the appropriate enforcement action.
Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Halina Obuchowicz practice on 22 June 2016. Overall the practice is rated as Inadequate.
Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:
There was a system in place for reporting significant events.
There were insufficient systems in place to discuss and communicate with all colleagues, information and learning from significant events, notifications of Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) alerts, and all other updates.
There were no measures in place to monitor the use of prescription pads.
All recruitment checks had not been completed for all staff.
There were areas where the provider must make improvements. The provider must:
Have effective communications systems in place for sharing of alerts, updates and any findings from investigations.
Ensure all recruitment checks as required by regulations, are in place for all staff and that information specified in schedule 3 is available in relation to all persons employed.
Ensure there is a governance system in place to monitor the distribution and use of prescription pads.
Ensure records relating the care and treatment of each person using the service are complete, legible, indelible, accurate and up to date, with no undue delays in adding and filing information.This includes addressing the backlog of patient note summarising.
Do all that is reasonably practicable to mitigate risks. This includes ensuring that signed Patient Group Directions and Patient Specific Directions are in place and signed by the appropriate nurse delivering immunisations and vaccinations.
Have systems and processes established to ensure that feedback provided by patients is used to continually evaluate and improve the service.
There were areas where the provider should make improvements. The provider should:
Ensure all staff are aware of who the lead for safeguarding is within the practice.
Have sufficient oversight in place so that they are aware of levels of exception reporting input by staff.
Develop significant event reporting to provide details of learning from events and what steps are implemented to reduce the possibility of the event re-occurring.
Develop audits to consist of a minimum of two cycles to provide a learning outcome and evidence improvement.
I am placing this service in special measures. Services placed in special measures will be inspected again within six months. If insufficient improvements have been made such that there remains a rating of inadequate for any population group, key question or overall, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating the service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration within six months if they do not improve.
The service will be kept under review and if needed could be escalated to urgent enforcement action. Where necessary, another inspection will be conducted within a further six months, and if there is not enough improvement we will move to close the service by adopting our proposal to remove this location or cancel the provider’s registration.
Special measures will give people who use the service the reassurance that the care they get should improve.
Chief Inspector of General Practice