CQC rate Bradford GP practice as Inadequate

England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has told Hillside Bridge Surgery, Bradford that it must improve, after rating it as Inadequate following an inspection in July.

Inspectors have rated the practice as Inadequate for safety, responsiveness effectiveness and well-led and Requires Improvement for caring. This gives the service its overall rating of Inadequate.

Read the report.

Some of the findings from the report include:

• CQC spoke with patients on the day of inspection who raised concerns regarding the practice and specifically the unhelpful and negative attitude of some staff members. A number of patient comment cards also reflected these concerns; as well as highlighting issues relating to accessing appointments and contacting the practice.
• The surgery could not show they had undertaken Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks on all members of staff. Such checks identify whether a person has a criminal record or is on an official list of people barred from working in roles where they may have contact with children or adults who may be vulnerable.
• On the day of inspection, inspectors found that patients were at risk of not receiving effective care or treatment. Specific immunisation rates for children were below national averages. This was particularly concerning given a recent measles outbreak in the city. The flu vaccine uptake rates for older adults was below national average.

Beverley Cole, Head of General Practice, North, said:

“The current provider, Dr Poonam Jha, registered the location with the CQC in October 2017 after taking over the management of the surgery in June 2017. However it is clear that the transition has not been smooth with four of the areas that CQC inspected rated as Inadequate.

“Leadership at the practice is a concern with little understanding or management of risks and issues. An accurate training record was not maintained; not all staff at the practice had access to appropriate information, there were gaps in the recruitment systems of the practice.

“Medicines management was poor. Inspectors found that they were not monitored or stored correctly – posing potential risks to patients. Likewise, the system for managing significant events was incomplete. Inspectors could not see that the dissemination of information was taking place leading to potential risks to patients.

“It is important that people who are registered with Hillside Bridge Surgery, can rely on getting high quality care. The service has been placed in special measures and will be kept under review and if needed could be escalated to urgent enforcement action, and if there is not enough improvement we will move to close the service.”