Surgery is rated 'inadequate'

Reporter: Lucy Kenderdine
Date published: 16 August 2016


A GLODWICK GP surgery has been placed in special measures after a Care Quality Commission inspection rated it as "inadequate".

Greenbank Medical Practice, based at Barley Clough Medical Centre on Nugget Street, received the rating - the CQC's lowest - for safety, effectiveness, care and leadership.

The watchdog said that it "requires improvement" for responsiveness.

Inspectors found appropriate recruitment checks on staff had not been undertaken prior to their employment and the practice had no clear leadership structure.

Dr Janet Williamson, deputy chief inspector of general practice at CQC, said: "It's unacceptable that people registered with Greenbank Surgery aren't getting the high-quality care which everyone is entitled to receive from their GP.

"We found there were no systems and processes in place to keep patients safe. For example, appropriate recruitment checks on staff had not been undertaken before they started working at Greenbank.

Challenges


"We were also very concerned that not all staff, including GP partners, were clear about the reporting and sharing of incidents, near misses or concerns.

"This meant that Greenbank Surgery wasn't taking the opportunity to learn from mistakes so the service was not continuously improving.

"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."

The CQC has highlighted several areas where the surgery must improve, including actively seeking the views of patients about the quality of care and treatment they receive and ensuring people know how to complain about the service.

The provider must ensure all staff have received appropriate clinical and mandatory training and keep a record of the training.

However, the CQC inspectors also reported that patients had said they felt able to access appointments when required and there was some flexibility in the system.

The report added: "Patients were positive about their interactions with staff and said they were treated with compassion and dignity."

In the latest GP patient survey, 88 per cent of patients described the experience of their GP practice as good, compared with the CGG average of 83 per cent and the national average of 85 per cent.

A spokesperson for the practice said: "We are very upset with the CQC report outcome but are committed to making improvements within the practice.

"We have already made a start on improving the areas highlighted within the report and aim to achieve a good report at our next inspection in six months' time."

Greenbank Medical Practice, which has more than 10,000 patients, was formed in April 2014 after a merger between Glodwick Medical Practice and the Radcliffe Medical Practice.

In October 2015, the Addy Practice also merged with Greenbank.

Improvement

The service will be kept under review and if needed could be escalated to urgent enforcement action.

Where necessary, another inspection will be conducted within a further six months, and if there is not enough improvement, the CQC will move to close the service.

Patients registered with 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 practices while improvements are being made.