England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has rated The Friary Surgery as Inadequate and placed the practice into special measures following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Under CQC’s new programme of inspections, all of England’s GP practices are being inspected and given a rating.
A specialist team of inspectors rated The Friary Surgery, Richmond, North Yorkshire as Inadequate for providing services that were safe and well led, and Requires Improvement for being effective, caring and responsive to people’s needs. Overall, this surgery has been rated as Inadequate and placed in special measures.
The practice inspection in June 2016 was led by a CQC Lead Inspector and included a GP specialist adviser, and a CQC pharmacist.
Patients were at risk of harm because the systems and processes in place were ineffective. Inspectors found concerns in relation to health and safety, management of safeguarding, recruitment of staff, medicines management, infection control and the ability to respond to clinical and non-clinical emergencies.
Staff understood their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. However, there was evidence to show that significant events were not always reported by staff and acted on accordingly. There was limited evidence to show that significant events and complaints were reviewed and thoroughly investigated to prevent further occurrences and secure improvements.
Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment. However the outcomes of patients’ care and treatment were not always monitored regularly. Clinical audits were not routinely carried out to improve care, treatment and people’s outcomes. Clinical and non-clinical staff had not received all of the training necessary to carry out their roles effectively.
A full report of this inspection has been published.
Dr Janet Williamson, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice said:
“It is important that the people who are registered at The Friary Surgery can rely on getting the high quality care which everyone is entitled to receive from their GP.
“Although some people told us staff were caring and treated patients with dignity and respect, the service had failed to ensure staff were appropriately trained to deliver effective and safe care to patients. Action must also be taken to address the wider concerns we identified about outcomes so that patients receive safe, high-quality primary care.
“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.
“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 a package of support is offered by NHS England and the Royal College of GPs to ensure that there are no immediate risks to patient safety at these GP practices whilst improvements are being made.
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