Chelsea Medical Services has been rated Inadequate overall by the Care Quality Commission and has been placed into special measures.
The practice which has 3,100 patients on its list was rated Inadequate for being safe, effective and well-led. It was rated Requires Improvement for being responsive and Good for caring, following the inspection in November 2019.
Inspectors found that the practice did not have clear systems and processes to keep patients safe or have reliable infection prevention and control practices in place. It did not have complete fire safety systems, nor did it have appropriate systems in place for the safe management of medicines.
There was limited monitoring of the outcomes or care and treatment. The practice was unable to show that staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to carry out their roles.
Leaders could not show that they had the capacity and skills to deliver high quality, sustainable care. The practice did not have an appropriate fail-safe system in place to monitor and manage cervical screening for female patients.
CQC saw limited evidence of systems and processes for learning, continuous improvement and innovation.
The practice must now:
- Ensure that care and treatment is provided in a safe way.
- Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.
However, inspectors did note that staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care. Patients made positive comments about the care and treatment they received.
Antony Hall, CQC’s Head of Inspection, PMS London, said: “Chelsea Medical Services have now been placed into special measures. This will give people that use the practice the reassurance that the care they get should improve.
“The service will be kept under review and if needed could be escalated to urgent enforcement action. If after six months there is not enough improvement, we will move to close the service by adopting our proposal to remove this location or cancel the provider’s registration.”
You can read the report in full when it is published on CQC’s website at: www.cqc.org.uk/provider/1-5614073964
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