CQC places Sutton Medical Practice in Special Measures

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

A specialist team of inspectors has rated the service provided by Dr Hafeez and Partner also known as the Sutton Medical Practice, London as Inadequate for being safe, responsive and well-led, and Requires Improvement to be caring and effective. The practice has been given an overall rating of Inadequate along with the recommendation to place the practice into special measures.

Under CQC’s new programme of inspections, led by Professor Steve Field, Chief Inspector of General Practice, all of England’s GP practices are being inspected and given a rating.

The practice was inspected in January by a CQC team which included a CQC inspector, a GP specialist advisor. A full report of this inspection has been published on this website today.

Inspectors found patients were at risk of unsafe care, the practice did not have equipment to use in emergencies such as oxygen and an automated external defibrillator and no risk assessments had been carried out.

Inspectors observed that the practice manager and GPs were not clear about the policy for dealing with blood test results and other clinical tests.

CQC found staff were not always clear about their responsibilities or the vision or strategy of the practice. Inspectors found no clear leadership structure or policies and procedures to govern activity.

Inspectors found some staff had received training on how to care for people with mental health needs and dementia, but not all staff were aware of the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act. Inspectors observed staff did not know who the lead for child protection or safeguarding at the practice was and were not aware of how to raise concerns.

The Care Quality Commission has identified 11 areas for improvement, including:

• The practice must ensure that all clinical and administrative staff are properly trained, supervised and appraised. Ensure that reception staff acting as chaperones have Disclosure and Barring Checks (DBS).
• Ensure a regular review of complaints takes place, learning is identified and issues addressed.
• Ensure the practice has the required medical equipment to respond in an emergency.
• Take action to address identified concerns with infection prevention and control practice.
• Ensure formal governance arrangements are in place including systems for assessing and monitoring risks and the quality of the service provision.

Ruth Rankine, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice said:

“Patients should be able to expect high quality and consistent care from their GP practice. It is important that the people who are registered with Sutton Medical Practice can rely on getting the high quality care which everyone is entitled to receive from their GP.

“While patients we met spoke highly of the care they received and the practice was found to be caring, we also found some significant areas of concern.  I do not believe that the practice is likely to resolve its challenges without external support. This is why we are placing the practice into special measures.

“With the right support, I expect this practice to be transformed. After a period of six months we will inspect again to check whether sufficient improvements have been made. If we find that the service provided by this practice remains inadequate, we will consider taking steps to cancel its registration with CQC.”

“Patients registered with the 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.”

Ends

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