CQC places Third Avenue Health Centre in Canvey Island into Special Measures

England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has placed an Essex GP practice into special measures following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.

The Care Quality Commission has found the quality of care at Third Avenue Health Centre in Canvey Island, Essex, to be Inadequate following an inspection carried out in November 2015. A full report of the inspection has been published today.

Third Avenue Health Centre provides primary medical services to approximately 7,230 patients in Canvey Island. The practice is run by Dr Sukumaran and Partners.

Under CQC’s new programme of inspections, all of England’s GP practices are being given a rating according to whether they are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.

Inspectors found that the practice was inadequate for providing safe services that were well led. It was rated Good for being caring and responsive and rated Requires Improvement for being effective

The report highlights a number of areas where improvements must be made including:

• The practice must ensure recruitment arrangements include all necessary employment checks for staff. Chaperones must have DBS checks in place or a risk assessment to detail why these are not required.
• The practice must demonstrate that there are robust policies and procedures in place for infection control and that staff have a good understanding of these.
• Prescription pads must be stored securely.
• The practice must produce a comprehensive business plan.
• The practice must implement an effective leadership structure that monitors the level of service provided by the practice.
• The practice must have an information governance policy and ensure staff understand and work in line with this policy.

CQC is working closely with NHS Castle Point and Rochford CCG to support the practice while it addresses the issues identified by the inspection.

Janet Williamson, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice and Dentistry in CQC’s Central region said:

“It is important that the people who are registered with Third Avenue Health Centre can rely on getting the high quality care which everyone is entitled to receive from their GP.

"Although the patients we met told us they were treated with kindness, dignity and respect, we also found that care and treatment was not always delivered in line with best practice. There were ineffective governance systems in place to monitor the safety and the quality of the services provided. The recruitment policy was not being followed to ensure staff new to the practice were appropriately qualified and experienced.

“We know that Third Avenue Health Centre has acknowledged the areas where action must be taken. 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.

“We 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.”

Ends

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