England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has placed The Family Practice, into special measures following a Care Quality Commission inspection which found the quality of care to be Inadequate overall.
Inspectors rated the practice, in Hermitage Road, Woking, Surrey, as Inadequate for being safe and well-led and Requires Improvement for being caring and responsive and Good for being effective following an inspection in September 2016.
A full report of the inspection, which details inspectors findings and highlights the areas where improvements must be made, is available from this website.
Ruth Rankine, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice in CQC’s South region said:
“It is important that the people who are registered with The Family Practice, can rely on getting the high quality care which everyone is entitled to receive from their GP.
“While we found aspects of good care patients on the day of inspection our inspectors observed some staff did not always treat patients with respect or compassion.
“We also had concerns regarding recruitment checks. With this and other concerns in mind I feel the practice would benefit from the support offered by NHS England and other stakeholders by being placed into special measures.
“We will continue to monitor this practice and we will inspect again in six months to check whether improvements have been made. I am hopeful that the practice will do what is required for the sake of its patients, but if we find that the service remains inadequate, we will consider taking further action.”
The inspection has identified a number of areas for further improvements including:
- Review the leadership and culture to support provision of high quality patient care and enable staff to deliver that.
- Ensure that training appropriate to job role is completed by all clinical and non-clinical staff and GPs, including safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.
- Ensure that all appropriate risk assessments are completed including a risk assessment on how the practice deals with medical emergencies and a Legionella risk assessment and that actions identified from risk assessments are completed and recorded. This includes ensuring recruitment arrangements include all necessary employment checks for all staff
- Provide staff with appropriate policies and guidance to carry out their roles in a safe and effective manner which is reflective of the requirements of the practice. This includes ensuring that written Person Specific Directions (PSD) are in place for the health care assistants, all vaccines and medicines are stored in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, clinical and medicine waste is disposed of safely and patient records are stored securely.
Ends
For further information please contact CQC Regional Engagement Manager John Scott on 07789875809 or, for media enquiries, call the press office on 020 7448 9401 during office hours. Journalists wishing to speak to the press office outside of office hours can find out how to contact the team here. (Please note: the duty press officer is unable to advise members of the public on health or social care matters). For general enquiries, please call 03000 61 61 61.