Hastings GP surgery rated inadequate by CQC

A GP surgery with more than 3,800 registered patients has been rated inadequate and placed in special measures following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.
Health news. Photo: Shutterstock SUS-150730-111621001Health news. Photo: Shutterstock SUS-150730-111621001
Health news. Photo: Shutterstock SUS-150730-111621001

A specialist team of inspectors rated the service provided by Dr Ankur Chopra, at Roebuck House, High Street, Hastings as inadequate for providing services that were safe and well-led, and requires improvement for effectiveness.

However the surgery was rated ‘good’ for being responsive to people’s needs and being caring.

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The report, published on February 11, said: “Risks to patients were not always assessed and managed, for example infection control audits were not up to date and whilst cleaning schedules were in place some parts of the practice were not clean and tidy.

“Medicine management systems were not safe and placed patients at risk. The recruitment practices did not ensure satisfactory information was available for staff employed by the practice. Staff who had access to patients unsupervised had not received a police check and the practice had not carried out a risk assessment to ensure the safety of patients.”

The practice was inspected in October 2015 by an inspection team which included a GP as a specialist advisor and a pharmacist inspector.

However the CQC found staff caring, treating patients with compassion and dignity.

External support

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Ruth Rankine, deputy chief inspector of General Practice (South) said: “It is important that the people who are registered with Dr Ankur Chopra’s practice can rely on getting the high quality care which everyone is entitled to receive from their GP.

“While staff are caring and responsive to the needs of patients, there is still more the practice can do to improve to ensure that people get 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.”

Patient safety

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NHS England South said Dr Ankur Chopra’s practice in Hastings has ‘confirmed its commitment’ to making the necessary improvements set out by the CQC.

A spokesman added: “NHS England is working alongside Hastings & Rother CCG to support the practice to take the action needed to make sure it has the right processes in place to support the delivery of safe, high quality care to all its patients.”

​Patients registered with the practices being placed into special measures should be aware that the package of support being offered by NHS England and the Royal College of GPs will ensure that there are no immediate risks to patient safety at these GP practices whilst improvements are being made.

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