England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has rated a GP surgery in Huddersfield as Inadequate and placed the practice into Special Measures following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.
The practice, Lepton and Kirkheaton Surgeries, was inspected in January 2016 by an inspection team which was led by a Commission inspector and included a GP, a practice nurse, and a practice manager, all specialist advisers for the Commission. The team found the practice had not ensured that the risks associated with providing health and medical services were minimised.
The practice was not effective and the practice leadership needed to assure the public that these matters would be addressed. The practice was rated as requiring improvement with respect to demonstrating that they could provide a caring and responsive service.
A full report of this inspection has been published on the CQC website at: www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-564501590
While the Commission found the clinicians to be skilled and compassionate, the practice did not have the management systems in place that could assure patient safety or monitor the quality of care provided. As a result the practice was not able to focus on improving their services. Inspectors found that critical communications about patients were not always recorded and this could have a detrimental impact on patient care; patient safety alerts were not well communicated to clinical staff; and the storage of temperature sensitive medicines and vaccines was not effectively monitored.
The Commission found the practice had not ensured that all staff had had the training appropriate to their role; the arrangements for the storage of potentially harmful medicines were not secure; and some of the practice’s clinical guidance was not up to date.
The practice had experienced considerable management changes over a long period of time and but had still not put in place effective management systems.
CQC is working closely with the local Clinical Commissioning Group and NHS England to support the practice while it addresses the issues identified by inspectors.
Sue McMillan, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice said:
“It is important that the people who are registered with the practice can rely on getting the high quality care which everyone is entitled to receive from their GP.
“It is disappointing to report that this practice was rated as inadequate, however, this will be an opportunity for the practice to address the issues identified through the inspection. Placing the practice in special measures will mean it can access external support to make improvements necessary for good patient care.
“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.
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For further information please contact CQC Regional Communications Manager David Fryer on 07901 514220. 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.
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Find out more
Read reports from our checks on the standards at Lepton & Kirkheaton Surgeries