The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Prospect Surgery in Middlesbrough that it must improve services, and has placed it into special measures following an inspection in July.
CQC carried out the announced inspection following concerns received about the quality of care being provided. Inspectors looked at how safe, effective and well-led services were. As a result of this inspection, Prospect Surgery’s overall rating has changed from good to inadequate. The individual ratings for the key questions of safe, effective and well-led at the surgery also changed from good to inadequate.
CQC have also issued Prospect Surgery with two warning notices relating to failures to provide safe care and treatment and the lack of good governance in order that the provider can focus in on these areas for rapid improvement.
Beverley Cole, CQC’s head of inspection for primary medical services, said:
“When CQC visited Prospect Surgery, we found a service that wasn’t providing the safe or effective care that people using its services should be able to expect.
“It was very concerning that medicines weren’t being managed well. People were being issued very strong medication with no process in place for monitoring usage putting their safety at real risk.
“Prospect Surgery also has a lot of work to do to have a better overview of what is happening in the practice, including working with other health and social care agencies, and ensuring infection prevention and control is a priority to keep people safe.
“As a result of these findings, we have placed them into special measures so they can access the support they need to improve.
“We will continue to monitor this service and expect to see rapid improvements with a re-inspection within six months to check on this progress.”
Inspectors found:
- Patients weren’t being prescribed medicines in line with current guidelines, including some instances where medications were prescribed outside of manufacturers guidelines. High risk medications were being issued on repeat prescriptions meaning staff couldn’t monitor appropriate usage.
- A lack of effective communication with other health and social care agencies, which meant key information around safeguarding wasn’t being shared, potentially missing opportunities to intervene when someone isn’t safe.
- There were no systems or processes to ensure that the care people were receiving was effective, or that potential risks to their safety were being considered.
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