GP practice in special measures

A raft of failings at a doctor's surgery has seen it placed in special measures.
Grange Park Medical Centre in Dinmore Avenue, Grange Park (Pic: Google)Grange Park Medical Centre in Dinmore Avenue, Grange Park (Pic: Google)
Grange Park Medical Centre in Dinmore Avenue, Grange Park (Pic: Google)

Grange Park Health Centre, in Dinmore Avenue, Grange Park, has been rated ‘inadequate’ by industry watchdog, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), following an inspection.

Deputy chief inspector of general practice, Sue McMillan, said: “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 and safe to work with patients.

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“Action must also be taken to address the wider concerns we identified about outcomes so that patients receive safe, high-quality primary care.”

Following the inspection, carried out in April, the practice was rated inadequate in four out of five key areas, and ‘requires improvement’ in the fifth. The inspectors said they were concerned about systems and processes in place to keep patients safe, including recruitment and training of staff, and the monitoring of medical equipment and clinical supples – some of which were out of date.

Other key findings in the CQC’s report included:

n Appropriate checks on staff hadn’t been carried out, basic life support training had not been given, and there was no documentation of actions taken to address infection control audit findings;

nNo staff appraisals had been carried out in the last 12 months, and staff were not clear about reporting incidents, near misses and concerns;

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n Emergency medicines were not easily accessible, there were no masks available for children for use with emergency oxygen, or children’s pads with the defibrillator;

nPatients’ records were not coded properly, leading to inadequate care and treatment of patients’ chronic conditions; and

n Staffing arrangements were not adequate to cover long-term absence.

The CQC said the practice cannot improve on its own, and will be supported by NHS England and the Royal College of GPs.

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In a statement, Dr Goksel Celikkol, from the practice, said: “General Practice turned into writing protocols and coding into computer systems, which we have to improve on. The indicators we have to show how we are treating patients with chronic diseases shown on the Quality outcome Framework.

“We are always hitting high targets on the quality outcome framework which is evidence of how we are managing patients with chronic diseases, also patients satisfaction survey done on a regular basis shows overall that we are achieving good patient satisfaction.”

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