The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Richmond Medical Centre, a GP surgery in North Hykeham, Lincoln run by a provider of the same name, as inadequate and placed it in special measures following an inspection in May.
This inspection was carried out in response to concerns CQC received about the service.
Following this inspection, the medical centre’s overall rating has dropped from good to inadequate, as has safe and well-led. How effective and responsive the centre is has declined from good to requires improvement. Caring remains rated good.
The service has now been placed in special measures and CQC has issued a warning notice to focus the practice’s attention on making rapid and widespread improvements in how they are managing the safe care and treatment of people using the practice and to ensure they are managing the service well.
CQC will closely monitor the service during this time to keep people safe.
Greg Rielly, CQC deputy director of operations in the midlands, said:
“When we inspected Richmond Medical Centre, it was concerning that the care being provided wasn’t of the standard that people should be able to expect.
“Staff told us they didn’t feel part of the overall team, so were having to work without any support from leaders. They also told us the GP partners weren’t visible and there was a disconnect between them and the managers which was having an impact on people’s care.
“During our inspection, staff told us they didn’t know how to use the equipment and hadn’t receiving any training on it, also, we found equipment on the emergency trolley had instructions in a foreign language. Additionally, staff told us equipment regularly went missing from the emergency trollies as they weren’t sealed which could put people at risk.
“It was concerning that we found some blood tests which hadn’t been actioned for several days, even though they were showing as abnormal. We also found that some people on long term medication hadn’t received annual blood tests to ensure it was safe to continue prescribing their medicines which could put them at risk of harm.
“When we raised this with the service, they assured us they had put a new process in place to review blood tests to ensure they were monitored effectively.
“We’ve used our enforcement powers and issued a warning notice which highlight the areas we need to see significant and immediate improvements.
“In the meantime, we’ll continue to monitor this service, including through further inspections, to make sure people are receiving the safe care they deserve, and won’t hesitate to take further action if needed.”
Inspectors found:
- Medicines were kept in an unlocked room off the main corridor which was accessible to people
- The provider failed to stock emergency medicines they deemed necessary, so they were not available in an urgent situation
- There were significant gaps in training such as safeguarding and infection control.
- People were unable to access care in a timely manner.
However:
- Staff treated people with kindness, respect and compassion and helped them to be involved in decisions about care and treatment
- The service responded to complaints and made changes to the service as a result.