South East London GP practice rated as Inadequate

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Dr Shabir Bhatti of the Bermondsey Spa Medical Practice in Bermondsey, South East London, as Inadequate and has placed the provider into special measures following an inspection in October 2015.

Placement into special measures means that the provider must now make necessary improvements or face action that could result in closure.

Under CQC’s programme of inspections, all primary medical services in England are being given a rating according to whether they are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.

The full report for the Dr Shabir Bhatti inspection has been published on this website.

Dr Shabir Bhatti provides primary medical services to over 8,500 patients within the London borough of Southwark, including high numbers of patients aged between 20 and 40 years, and a higher than average number of children and older people from income deprived households.

Patients told inspectors that they experienced long waiting times for appointments and that it was very difficult to get through the practice when phoning to make an appointment. Patients also told inspectors that they were long delays when waiting to be seen for their booked appointments

However, some patients were positive about their interactions with staff, although some patients did raise concerns about a lack of concern and rude attitudes from reception and clinical staff on occasions.

CQC inspectors found that appropriate recruitment checks for staff had not been undertaken prior to their employment, and that there were insufficient arrangements to safeguard people from abuse. Practice staff were not clear about reporting incidents, near misses and concerns and there was no evidence of learning and communication with staff.

Ursula Gallagher, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice:

"When we are faced with a provider that is experiencing difficulties in providing adequate care for patients, our first instinct is to work with them to ensure that patient care improves.

“We are confident that Dr Shabir Bhatti will take any necessary action to address the concerns we identified during our most recent inspection.

“In particular, the provider must ensure that significant events are consistently recorded and discussed to share learning, and that appropriate staffing arrangements are put in place in order to improve patient access to appointments, reduce risks and improve patient safety.

“We will re-inspect within six months to check whether sufficient improvements have been made. If sufficient improvements have not been made and there remains a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take further action which may include closure.”

Ends

For further information please contact Yetunde Akintewe, CQC Regional Engagement Manager, on 07471 020 659. For media enquiries, journalists wishing to speak to the press office outside of office hours can find out how to contact the team here. For general enquiries, please call 03000 61 61 61.