England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has placed an Essex GP practice into special measures following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.
The Care Quality Commission has found the quality of care at Dr Julius Sodipo, Essex, to be Inadequate following an inspection carried out in September 2015.
A full report of the inspection has been published today.
Dr Julius Sodipo serves approximately 1643 patients. The practice has an aging patient profile with greater patient representation than national amongst patients 65 years and above.
Under CQC’s new programme of inspections, all of England’s GP practices are being given a rating according to whether they are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.
The report highlights a number of areas where improvements must be made including:
- Ensure there are formal governance arrangements in place including systems for assessing and monitoring risks and the quality of the service provision.
- Ensure there are systems or processes established and operating effectively to assess, monitor and mitigate risks.
- Ensure the safe management of medicines.
- Ensure staff receive appropriate support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisal as necessary to carry out their duties.
- Ensure all recruitment checks are conducted and evidenced appropriately.
- Ensure the complaints policy is reflective of practice, affording patients access to advocacy services and right of appeal against decisions.
- Ensure sufficient equipment and medicines to care for basic and immediate care needs of staff and patients.
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
- Provide clear leadership to staff to deliver improvements.
- Record the movement of all prescription pads.
Janet Williamson, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice and Dentistry in CQC’s Central region said:
“It is important that the people who are registered with Dr Julius Sodipo can rely on getting the high quality care which everyone is entitled to receive from their GP.
"Although the patients we met told us they were treated with dignity and respect, we also found that care and treatment was not always delivered in line with best practice.
“We know that Dr Julius Sodipo has acknowledged the areas where action must be taken. We have found significant areas of concern, which is why we are placing the practice into special measures - so opening the way to support from NHS England among others.
“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.”
Ends
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Find out more
Read our reports on Dr Julius Sodipo.