Horsham GP to exit Special Measures

Published: 16 November 2017 Page last updated: 3 November 2022
Categories
Media

England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has taken a Horsham GP practice out of special measures following improvements in the quality of its services.

Rudgwick Medical Centre in Station Road, Horsham, West Sussex had been rated Inadequate during an inspection in January 2017, when the practice was placed into special measures.

During the latest inspection in September 2017, inspectors found that the practice had made a significant number of improvements and the practice is now rated Good overall. The practice was rated as Good for being safe, caring, effective, responsive to people’s needs and well-led.

Read the full inspection report.

After the inspection in January 2017, the practice was issued with Warning Notices but a further focused inspection was carried out on 17 May 2017 and this found the practice had met the legal requirements of the Warning Notices.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

  • The practice had policies in place relating to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, staff had received training at an appropriate level and were aware of who the safeguarding lead was.
  • Recruitment checks were in place and files included satisfactory information about conduct in previous work for staff prior to commencing their employment.
  • All clinical staff, including those undertaking chaperone duties had a Disclosure and Barring Service check in place; the practice had now assessed the risks of not having checks in place for all non-clinical posts.

Professor Steve Field, Chief Inspector of General Practice, said:

"It is clear that Rudgwick Medical Centre has made some real improvements since our previous inspection where we identified concerns relating to the safe delivery of services and leadership of the practice.

"The practice is now providing a safe, caring and effective service. I am pleased to announce that the practice will come out of special measures and I congratulate them on the progress that they have made.”

Ruth Rankine, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice for the South of England, said:

“During our recent inspection of Rudgwick Medical Centre we found a number of significant improvements had been made in all areas and that action had been taken to identify, assess and manage risks to patients.

“We are pleased to see that the hard work and strong commitment from all practice staff to deliver improved services has resulted in higher standards of care for their patients. I congratulate them on the concentrated effort this has taken, the practice should be very proud of this achievement.”

-ENDS-

For further information please contact CQC Regional Engagement Manager John Scott on 07789 875 809 or, for media enquiries, 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 http://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

I am pleased to announce that the practice will come out of special measures and I congratulate them on the progress that they have made.

Professor Steve Field, Chief Inspector of General Practice

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.