CQC places Family Health Care Centre GP Practice into Special Measures

England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has placed a Norfolk GP practice into special measures following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.

The Care Quality Commission has found the quality of care provided at the Family Health Care Centre GP Practice to be Inadequate following an inspection carried out in October 2014. A full report of the inspection has been published today.

The Family Health Care Centre provides a primary medical service to 5,360 patients living in and around Gorleston-on-Sea in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

Under CQC’s new programme of inspections, all of England’s GP practices are being given a rating according to whether they are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.

Inspectors found that while the Family Health Care Centre staff offered a caring and supportive service, there were limited systems in place to monitor the safety and effectiveness of the care and support that was being provided to patients.

Data showed that patient outcomes were at or below average. The practice could not always provide evidence that care and treatment was delivered in line with professional guidelines.

The report highlights a number of areas where improvements must be made including:

• The practice must establish systems to monitor the quality of the service, including regular clinical audits and an effective process for identifying, reporting and investigating significant incidents and complaints.
• There was no clear leadership structure and staff did not always feel supported by management.
• The practice must ensure that medicines are safely stored and fit for use.
• The practice must strengthen the clinical leadership for infection control and seek assurance that the quality of cleaning at the practice is being maintained.

CQC is working closely with Great Yarmouth and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group and NHS England to support the practice, which is provided by Dr Keivan Maleki, while it addresses the issues identified by the inspection.

Janet Williamson, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice and Dentistry in CQC’s Central region said:

“It is important that the people who are registered with the Family Health Care Centre can rely on getting the high quality care which everyone is entitled to receive from their GP.

"Although the patients we met told us they were treated with dignity and respect, we also found that care and treatment was not always delivered in line with best practice. The lead GP worked hard to maintain the service but had limited clinical and managerial support in place to develop a clear vision and strategy for the practice.

“We know that the Family Health Care Centre has acknowledged the areas where action must be taken. We have found significant areas of concern, which is why we are placing the practice into special measures - so opening the way to support from NHS England among others.

“We will continue to monitor this practice and we will inspect again in six months to check whether sufficient improvements have been made. I am hopeful that the practice will do what is required for the sake of its patients, but if we find that the service remains inadequate, we will consider taking further action.”

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