The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Highley Medical Centre in Bridgnorth, Shropshire that it must improve services, and has placed it into special measures following an inspection last November.
CQC carried out the inspection following concerns received about the quality of care and treatment being provided.
As a result of this inspection, Highley Medical Centre was rated as inadequate overall. It was rated good for being caring, requires improvement for being effective and responsive and inadequate for being safe and well-led. The service was previously rated as good overall.
Following the inspection CQC issued Highley Medical Centre with two warning notices relating to concerns around safe care and treatment and the lack of good governance. The practice submitted an action plan and is working towards making the necessary improvements.
Janet Ortega, CQC’s head of integrated care and GP inspection, said:
“When CQC visited Highley Medical Centre, we found a service that wasn’t providing the level of care that people using its services should be able to expect.
“Despite staff demonstrating a kind and caring approach to their patients, leaders could not demonstrate that they had the capacity and skills to address the challenges within the practice.
“It was concerning that the service failed to provide safe care and treatment to patients with long term health conditions. For example, there had been missed diagnoses and poor monitoring of conditions like diabetes which could place people’s health at serious risk.
“Clinicians didn’t always inform patients about abnormal test results and referrals to secondary care. It is essential these areas are improved to prevent harm or further deterioration to people’s health.
“In addition, the service did not have all the required medicines or equipment available should a patient arrive in an emergency.
“As a result of these findings, we have placed Highley Medical Centre into special measures so it can access the support it needs to make the necessary improvements.
“We will continue to monitor this service and expect to see improvements with a re-inspection within six months to check on progress.”
Inspectors found:
The practice had not always acted effectively on potential safeguarding information
Patients prescribed high risk medicines had not always received the required blood test monitoring in line with guidance
Several patients were overdue a medicine review
The systems and processes to assess, monitor and mitigate the risks relating to the safety of patients who may be at risk were not effective
Patients with long-term conditions were not always offered a structured annual review to check their health and medical needs were being met
There was no system in place to monitor compliance with staff training therefore the practice was unable to demonstrate that all staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to carry out their roles effectively.
Full details of the inspection are given in the report published on our website.
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