CQC prevents Brent private practice from operating

Published: 12 September 2019 Page last updated: 12 September 2019
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The Care Quality Commission has move to prevent a private Brent practice from providing medical services with immediate effect.

The Monteiro Clinic North was not rated after this most recent inspection in July 2019 - but in a previous inspection in April 2019 it was rated Inadequate overall.

Following the latest inspection, CQC imposed an urgent condition on the provider. This condition prevented the provider from operating medical services with immediate effect.

The Monteiro Clinic Limited is an independent provider of medical services and offers a full range of private general practice services predominantly to the Brazilian, Portuguese and Spanish communities. The service has a sister practice in Clapham, South London.

CQC’s key findings included:

  • Serious concerns regarding the management of patients prescribed high risk medicines.
  • Concerns regarding the management of patient care that was not provided in accordance with best practice and national guidance.
  • Practices nurses had not undertaken specific role training or been competency checked and CQC found they had been working whilst subject to an urgent condition to prevent them from doing so.
  • The service did not have an Import Licence for medicines imported from Portugal.
  • Yellow Fever vaccines had been administered to patients, but the service was not registered as a Yellow Fever Centre.
  • There was a lack of clinical governance and oversight for patient care.

The areas where the provider must make improvements as they are in breach of regulations are:

  • Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.
  • Ensure systems and processes are established and operated effectively to ensure compliance with the requirements of good governance.

Head of Inspection for Primary Medical Services in London, Antony Hall, said:

“Following the previous inspection of 17 April 2019, this service had warning notices placed against it. Insufficient improvements have been made to ensure that patients were receiving safe, effective and well led care. We have also found significant concerns about the care being provided to patients through clinical record review.

“Therefore, we are acting in line with our enforcement procedures to prevent the provider from operating medical services and may only provide dental services at this location. We have taken immediate action to prevent the provider from providing regulated services from this location.”

You can read the report in full when it is published on the CQC website at: www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-3000870631

Ends

For media enquiries, contact Ray Cooling, Regional Engagement Manager (London), on 020 7448 9136 or call the press office on 020 7448 9401 during office hours. Journalists wishing to speak to the press office outside of office hours can find out how to contact the team here www.cqc.org.uk/media/our-media-office. (Please note: the duty press officer is unable to advise members of the public on health or social care matters). For general enquiries, please call 03000 61 61 61.

About the Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England.

We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve.

We monitor, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and we publish what we find to help people choose care.