Hastings GP surgery placed in special measures

A doctor's surgery in Hastings has been placed in special measures following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Station Plaza Health Centre, Hastings. SUS-150408-094513001Station Plaza Health Centre, Hastings. SUS-150408-094513001
Station Plaza Health Centre, Hastings. SUS-150408-094513001

Cornwallis Surgery was visited in April 2017 and subsequently placed in special measures by England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice.

Inspectors have rated the service as inadequate for being safe, effective, well-led and responsive to people’s needs, and requires improvement for being caring, in a report published today (Thursday, June 22).

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Ruth Rankine, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice CQC’s South region, said: “Our inspectors had previously carried out an inspection at Cornwallis Surgery in November 2016 where the service was rated as requires improvement. This inspection was meant to be a focus on the work the practice had carried out since that first visit.

“It is worrying that despite the concerns and improvements identified at that first inspection, our team found a decline in the standards upon their return. Medicines were not managed safely putting patients at risk of receiving out-of-date medication. Patients struggled to book an appointment over the phone, with some deciding to attend the practice and wait to see a GP instead.

“While there was a leadership structure in place, they were unable to demonstrate capacity and capability to run the practice well and prioritise safe and compassionate care. Staff had not received adequate training and support to deliver safe care and recruitment checks were not completed for all staff.

“This put people using the service at risk of not receiving the high quality care, which everyone is entitled to receive from their GP practice. With this in mind we had no option but to place the practice into special measures.

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“We will re-inspect the practice within six months to check whether sufficient improvements have been made. If we find that the service provided by this surgery remains inadequate, we will not hesitate to consider further enforcement action.”

Dr David Warden, Chair of NHS Hastings and Rother Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said: “Although we are extremely disappointed that Cornwallis Plaza Surgery has received this rating we are grateful for the CQC’s important report, which highlights the key improvements that need to made at the practice.

“We would like to take this opportunity to apologise to any patients who have experienced any issues with the services at the practice, which currently fall below the standards we would expect, and to reassure them we are committed to ensuring action is taken quickly to address this, so that patients consistently have access to safe, high quality care.

“We are working closely with practice staff to formulate a robust action plan to address the concerns of the CQC, and will continue to give support to the practice to make certain the services provided there reach the expected standards.”

Key findings of CQC’s inspection included:

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· Patients were at risk of harm because systems were not in place to manage medicines safely.

· There was an inadequate system in place to identify, record and review significant events and whether the practice had learned from incidents and if information had been shared with staff.

· Adequate recruitment procedures were not in place to protect staff.

· Staff did not receive sufficient training, support or supervision to deliver safe care and treatment.

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· Patient access to appointment systems needed to be improved.

The full report can be viewed online at http://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-2159477347.

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