The Care Quality Commission has published its report on Radnor House Surgery and Ascot Medical Centre, Berkshire.
The quality of care has been found to be Inadequate in three domains: Safe, Responsive, and well-led, while it was rated Requires Improvement for Effective and Caring. The practice has been given an overall rating of Inadequate and been placed into special measures.
Radnor House Surgery and Ascot Medical Centre of 25 London Rd, Ascot was inspected on 02 March 2016.
A full report on this inspection, which details inspectors’ findings and highlights the areas where improvements must be made has been published.
Ruth Rankine, CQC Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice in the South said
“It is important that the people who are registered with Radnor House Surgery and Ascot Medical Centre can rely on getting the high quality care which everyone is entitled to receive from their GP.
"During our inspection we saw that staff were caring and treated patients with compassion, dignity and respect. However, we also found that care and treatment was not always delivered in line with best practice.
“We have found significant areas of concern, which is why we are placing the practice into special measures - so opening the way for the practice to receive support from NHS England among others.
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.”
Dr Geoff Payne, Medical Director, NHS England, said:
“The CQC report for Radnor House Surgery and Ascot Medical Centre rates the practice as ‘inadequate’ for a number of areas however staff have been recognised for treating patients with compassion, dignity and respect and their commitment to patients demonstrated by the active involvement of their patient participation group.
However, there are several areas where improvements need to be made in the management of the practice including training for staff around managing risks and sharing and acting upon learning, recruitment processes were not robust and a number of policies and procedures needed to be reviewed.
“Quality patient care is essential. Together with Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead Clinical Commissioning Group, we are supporting the practice to develop and implement an action plan to ensure that they can make improvements quickly.
“We encourage patients to continue to support the practice while changes are made.”
Key findings from inspectors included:
- Inspectors found that staff were unclear regarding their responsibilities to report incidents, near misses, and there was no evidence of learning by sharing findings with staff.
- Across both Radnor House Surgery and Ascot Medical Centre, there was an indistinct leadership structure and insufficient leadership capacity. Staff reported feeling unsupported as there was inadequate communication between staff and management.
- Inspectors observed that patients were at risk of harm because the systems and processes in place did not always ensure their safety. The service did not demonstrate that recruitment checks had taken place prior to employment and staff had received insufficient training.
Ends
For further information please contact CQC Regional Engagement Officer Farrah Chandra on 07917 594 574 or, for media enquiries, call the press office on 020 7448 9401 during office hours. Journalists wishing to speak to the press office outside of office hours can find out how to contact the team here. (Please note: the duty press officer is unable to advise members of the public on health or social care matters). For general enquiries, please call 03000 61 61 61.
Find out more
Read our report about Radnor House Surgery and Ascot Medical Centre