England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has once again rated St Philips Medical Centre in Westminster as Inadequate - following a Care Quality Commission re-inspection in August.
Although some evidence of improvement was found at the practice it is not sufficient to provide the necessary assurance that patients were receiving safe high quality care. It was therefore decided that St Philips Medical Centre continued to require the additional support offered by remaining in special measures for a further fixed period.
Inspectors rated the practice as Inadequate for being safe, effective and well-led. It was rated Requires Improvement for being caring and responsive.
The practice provides GP care services to approximately 11,000 people, many of them students, living in the Westminster area. It has a high turnover as many patients move away once their studies are completed.
CQC inspectors carried out the announced inspection at St Philips Medical Centre on 2 August 2016. This was to follow up an inspection carried out in November 2015, when CQC found the practice was not meeting the fundamental standards of quality and safety in a number of areas.
Following the latest inspection CQC has formally warned the practice that it must make urgent improvements in quality and safety.
Areas where the practice was found to be failing this time include included:
- There was still limited evidence of a multidisciplinary approach to patient care and treatment
- The practice had not introduced care plans for older people and at risk groups
- There were continuing gaps in key areas of staff training and appraisal.
Professor Ursula Gallagher, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice in CQC’s London region said: “It is important that the people who are registered at The St Philips Medical Centre can rely on getting the high quality care which everyone is entitled to receive from their GP.
“St Philips Medical Centre drew up a special measures turnaround action plan to improve its performance in response to the findings of the previous inspection. At the follow up inspection we reviewed the practice’s progress in implementing this plan. The practice had made improvements in some areas but much of the action plan remained to be implemented. Overall, it had not addressed sufficiently concerns identified at our previous inspection and we identified additional concerns at our latest inspection. As a result the practice remains in special measures and we will return to inspect again within six months. If, at the end of this second period, the necessary improvements are not found the CQC will take further actions to ensure that patients get the care they are entitled to.”
Patients registered with practices being placed into special measures should be aware that the package of support being offered by NHS England and the Royal College of GPs will ensure that there are no immediate risks to patient safety at these GP practices whilst improvements are being made. These practices will not close.
Ends
For media enquiries, contact Ray Cooling, Regional Engagement Manager (London), on 020 7448 9136 or 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.