England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has rated Oldham GP Practice, Dr Sidhu’s Medical Practice, as Inadequate. The practice will remain in special measures following an inspection by the CQC in October 2016.
Under CQC’s programme of inspections, all of England’s GP practices are given a rating in five key areas: safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.
The practice had previously been inspected in January 2016, when it was rated Inadequate, overall. During the January inspection all the domains CQC inspects against; safe, caring, effectiveness, responsiveness and well-led were individually rated as Inadequate, and the practice was placed in special measures.
During this latest inspection on 20 October, the service was rated as Inadequate for safe, effective, and well-led domains, and rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ for responsiveness and well-led domains.
Alison Holbourn, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice at CQC said:
“It is concerning that the patients of Dr Sidhu’s surgery aren’t getting the high quality care which everyone should expect, especially as the service had been given support by local health partners. At the latest inspection we still found areas of concern.
“Inspectors found that some patients reported that it was difficult to access appointments, and that it was difficult to get through to the practice by telephone. It was also evident that insufficient action was being taken when alerts were received from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).We saw that although alerts were discussed in practice meetings, searches had not always been carried out following alerts.
“We also found concern over the diagnosis and management of long term conditions such as Asthma and COPD.
“Practice governance arrangements were not effective. The Practice had an overarching governance framework to support the delivery of the strategy. However, this did not always result in good quality care being provided. The issues identified during the inspection in January 2016 had not all been resolved.
“I do not believe that the practice is likely to resolve its challenges in the short-term, consequently the service will remain in special measures. Another inspection will be conducted within six months, and if there is not enough improvement we will move to close the service by adopting our proposal to vary the provider’s registration to remove this location or cancel the provider’s registration.
Read the full inspection report.
Some of the areas where CQC have told the practice they must improve are:
- The provider must ensure appropriate action is taken when alerts are received from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
- The provider must ensure patients are appropriately diagnosed and read coded so that clinical prevalence rates are accurate and appropriate care and treatment can be offered.
- The provider must ensure all clinical staff have the required understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 so consent is correctly sought.
Patients registered with the 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 GP practices whilst improvements are being made.
Another inspection will be conducted within six months, and if there is not enough improvement we will move to close the service by adopting our proposal to vary the provider’s registration to remove this location or cancel the provider’s registration.
Alison Holbourn, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice