CQC places Hull GP into Special Measures

England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has placed a Hull GP into special measures following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.

A specialist team of inspectors rated the service provided by Dr AH Tak, Dr EG Stryjakiewicz and Dr M Sadik as Inadequate for being safe, effective, responsive and well-led, and Requires Improvement for being caring. The practice has been given an overall rating of Inadequate.

Under CQC’s new 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. 

The Practice was inspected in December 2014 by an inspection team which included two GP specialist advisors, and a practice manager. A full report of this inspection has been published today.

Inspectors found that the practice was not always responsive to patients needs and did not have a plan in place to ensure that the services provided could meet the differing needs of the local population. Data reviewed by inspectors showed that patient outcomes were at or below the average for the local area.

Although patients said they could usually get an urgent appointment, some reported difficulty in accessing a named GP. In addition inspectors found that the routine appointment system was not working, and patients experienced difficulty getting through on the telephone, often waiting a long time for non-urgent appointments.

The majority of patients told inspectors they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect by staff, however not all felt cared for, supported or fully listened to.

Staff understood their responsibilities to raise concerns, and investigations were undertaken, but lessons learned were not shared with staff so that improvements could be made.

There was no clear leadership structure and staff told inspectors that they did not feel supported by the management team. Staff meetings did not take place on a routine basis and staff did not receive regular performance reviews to support them in their role.

The Care Quality Commission has identified a number of areas for improvement, including:

• The practice must ensure that all staff receive appropriate training and are appraised annually.
• The practice must put systems in place to keep clinicians up to date with national guidance and guidelines.
• The practice must ensure patients with long term conditions and those taking medication have annual reviews.
• The practice must ensure there are formal governance arrangements in place, including systems for assessing and monitoring risks and the quality of the service provision.
• The practice must undertake audits of practice, including completed clinical audit cycles.
• The practice must clarify the leadership structure and ensure there is leadership capacity to deliver all improvements
• The practice must ensure that staff have appropriate up to date policies and guidance to carry out their roles in a safe and effective manner.

CQC is working closely with Hull Clinical Commissioning Group and NHS England to support the practice while it addresses the issues identified by the inspection.

Sue McMillan, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice said:

“It is important that the people who are registered with Dr AH Tak, Dr EG Stryjakiewicz and Dr M Sadik can rely on getting the high quality care which everyone is entitled to receive from their GP.

“Many patients were positive about the care they received and said they were treated with compassion and dignity, however our inspectors also found some significant concerns.

“There were no appropriate policies or guidance in place to support staff to ensure that risks to patients were identified, monitored and reviewed and a clear failure to share learning from incidents so that improvements could be made.

 “The failure to assess risk or effectively monitor quality that have been identified in the report need to be addressed and immediate action taken so that people get safe, high-quality primary care.

“I do not believe that the practice is likely to resolve its challenges without external support. This is why we are placing the practice into special measures.

“After a period of six months we will inspect again to check whether sufficient improvements have been made. If we find that the service provided by this practice remains inadequate, we will consider taking steps to cancel its registration with CQC.”

Patients registered with the practices being placed into special measures should be aware that the package of support being offered by NHS England and the Royal College of GPs will ensure that there are no immediate risks to patient safety at these GP practices whilst improvements are being made.

Ends

For further information please contact CQC Regional Engagement Manager Kirstin Hannaford on 0191 233 3629. Alternatively, the CQC press office can be contacted on 0207 448 9401 or out of hours on 07789 876508.