CQC inspectors place Rudgwick Medical Centre, West Sussex into special measures

England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has placed Rudgwick Medical Centre in Rudgwick, West Sussex into Special Measures following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission in January 2016.

Inspectors rated the service as Inadequate for being safe and well-led, Requires Improvement for being effective and responsive to people’s needs, and Good for being caring

A full report of this inspection has been published on our website today.

Ruth Rankine, CQC's Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice, said:

“Rudgwick Medical Centre did not have a clear leadership structure in place to deliver high quality care which everyone is entitled to receive from their GP practice."

“While patients said the practice treated them with care and respect, they were at risk of harm because systems currently in place were not embedded well enough to keep them safe. For example, opportunities to learn and improve from incidents and concerns were missed."

“For this and other areas of concern  we are placing the practice into special measures - so opening the way for the practice to receive support from NHS England among others."

“We will continue to monitor this practice and we will inspect again in six months to check whether improvements have been made. If we find that the service remains inadequate, we will consider taking further enforcement action.”

Key findings from inspectors included:

• Recruitment checks were in place; however some staff files did not include satisfactory information about conduct in previous work for staff prior to commencing in place.
• The practice did not have a policy in place for the safe storage and management of medicines requiring refrigeration. 
• The practice did not have a clear leadership structure in all areas and there was insufficient leadership capacity and limited formal governance arrangements. 
• Although staff understood how to report incidents and near misses, the actual reviews and investigations were not thorough enough. Records relating to significant events were not always comprehensively maintained and discussions, learning and action to ensure improvements was not always clear.

Ends

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