The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has suspended an east London private GP surgery from treating patients, after finding the service exposed people to risk of avoidable harm.
CQC inspected the Northway Clinic, Canning Town, in April as part of its regular checks on the services it regulates.
CQC did not rate the surgery as the inspection’s focus changed from a comprehensive inspection to an assessment of clinical risks, due to inspector concerns about the surgery’s clear failures to ensure patient safety.
However, due to the widespread and significant risks to people that inspectors uncovered, CQC suspended the service. This means the surgery cannot provide regulated care or treatment to anyone until CQC is assured the service can ensure patient safety.
After the inspection, the provider of the service told CQC it had appointed a new clinical lead and that it was undertaking an external review of all patients where inspectors highlighted concerns. The clinic’s leaders also advised they were forming a medical advisory committee, following up on all safeguarding cases and were working on an action plan.
Andy Ford, CQC’s head of primary medical services inspection, said:
“People using regulated health and social care services have the right to expect safe and effective care and treatment. When we find services aren’t providing this, we take action to protect people from the risk of avoidable harm.
“The Northway Clinic wasn’t meeting patients’ clinical needs or ensuring they were safeguarded from abuse.
“Behind these issues was insufficient oversight from leaders to ensure care and treatment provided to people were safe and effective.
“Due to these issues, we suspended the Northway Clinic’s registration for six months. It must ensure it has the right processes in place to provide good care and protect people from the risk of avoidable harm before we will consider allowing it to provide care and treatment to people again.”
Inspectors found:
- There were no effective systems to keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse. Safeguarding issues – including involving children – were delayed for weeks before referral, and staff lacked training to spot and respond to signs of abuse.
- Patients’ clinical needs, assessments, care and prescribing were not always in line with evidence-based guidance. This exposed some patients to risk of harm.
- The service did not identify or learn from significant incidents.
- The appropriateness of clinical care and treatment was not reviewed effectively.
- Staff felt supported by management, but leadership and governance arrangements were ineffective.
Full details of the inspection are given in the report published on our website.
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