CQC inspectors place a Gillingham GP practice into special measures

England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has placed the practice of Dr Bijendra Narayan Singh at Gillingham in Kent into special measures following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.

The practice of Dr Bijendra Narayan Singh was inspected in November 2015.  A full report of this inspection has been published on the CQC website today.

A specialist team of inspectors rated the service as Inadequate for being safe and well-led, although it was rated Good for being responsive to people’s needs and caring, and Requires Improvement for being effective.

The practice has been given an overall rating of Inadequate.

Under CQC’s programme of inspections led by Professor Steve Field, Chief Inspector of General Practice, all of England’s GP practices are being inspected and given a rating.

Ruth Rankine, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice, said:

“In many respects the practice of Dr Bijendra Narayan Singh provides a caring and responsive service to its patients. But it is important that everyone who is registered with the surgery can rely on getting the safe, high quality care which they are entitled to receive from their GP.

“In particular we found the practice of Dr Bijendra Narayan Singh Inadequate for safety and Inadequate for being well led which is why we are placing the practice into special measures, so that it can get the support that it needs.

“After a period of six months we will inspect again to check whether sufficient improvements have been made. If we find that the practice remains inadequate, we will consider taking further action."

Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.

There were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements:

• Appropriate recruitment checks had not been undertaken prior to the employment of locum GPs recruited directly by the practice.
• The practice was unable to demonstrate they were able to respond to a medical emergency, in line with national guidance, before the arrival of an ambulance.
• Significant issues that threatened the delivery of safe care were not identified or adequately managed.
• Risks to patients were not consistently assessed and well managed.

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