England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has rated a Bradford GP surgery as Inadequate and placed the practice into special measures following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
A specialist team of inspectors, which included a GP, a practice manager and an expert by experience, inspected the Dr Subrata Basu practice, also known as the Dr Basu at Whetley Medical Centre in Bradford, West Yorkshire on 8 April 2016. In all of the five key areas - safety, effectiveness, care, responsiveness and leadership - the practice was found to be failing.
Some of our key findings included clinical decisions being taken at the practice by unqualified staff and patients continuing to request and receive medication without any review by a clinician. Basic care and treatment requirements were not being met. A random sample of patient records showed that medication reviews were not undertaken and requests for patients to undergo further assessments or tests were not actioned.
Patients were at risk of harm because systems and processes were not in place to minimise the risks associated with providing health and medical services. For example, appropriate recruitment checks on staff had not been undertaken prior to their employment
There was poor access to health and medical care for patients. On the afternoon of the inspection, a surgery was not available. We found that this was not an isolated occurrence. Appointment slots to see the lead GP were regularly left unfilled despite patients requiring these.
A full report of this inspection has been published.
Sue McMillan, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice said:
“It is important that the people who are registered with Dr Subrata Basu can rely on getting the high quality care which everyone is entitled to receive from their GP.
“Appropriate health care for patients was not always available. I was particularly concerned that we found some clinical decisions were being taken by unqualified staff and furthermore, that it was common for surgeries to be cancelled.
“Action must also be taken to address the wider concerns we identified so that patients receive safe, high-quality primary care.
“I do not believe that the practice is likely to resolve these challenges and for this reason we have instigated enforcement action to cancel the registration of this provider.
“However, I am pleased to report that since this inspection a contract has been issued to a new provider, at Whetley Medical Centre, and the patients of this practice will continue to have access to health and medical care services.
“Nevertheless, we are placing this practice into special measures. After a period of six months we will inspect again to check whether the risks to patients have been minimised and improvements made. Patients registered with the practices being placed into special measures should be aware that the package of support being offered by NHS England will ensure that there are no immediate risks to patient safety at these GP practices whilst improvements are being made.”
Ends
For further information please contact CQC Regional Communications Officer Kerri James 07464 92 9966.
Journalists wishing to speak to the press office outside of office hours can find out how to contact the team here. Please note: the press office is unable to advise members of the public on health or social care matters. For general enquiries, please call 03000 61 61 61.
Find out more
Read our reports on Dr Subrata Basu.