The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has dropped the overall rating for Church Langley Medical Centre from good to inadequate following an inspection in November.
Church Langley Medical Centre is also known as Dr M Kisenyi & Partners.
The practice’s ratings for safe, responsive, and well-led have also dropped from good to inadequate. Its ratings for effective and caring have dropped from good to requires improvement.
The service is now in special measures which means it will be kept under review by CQC and re-inspected to check on the progress of improvements. CQC have also taken further enforcement action to protect people and will report on this when legally able to do so.
Hazel Roberts, CQC deputy director of operations in the east of England, said:
“When we inspected Church Langley Medical Centre, we were concerned to find its leaders had poor oversight of multiple issues affecting people’s safety and weren’t always acting promptly to improve the service.
“For example, while most staff were hard-working and focused on people’s needs, leaders hadn’t always ensured staff had all the skills and knowledge they needed to keep people safe.
“Additionally, some medications and equipment weren’t stored properly. We found an oxygen cylinder which staff hadn’t realised expired in October 2022, despite making daily checks of medical emergency equipment. This could have put people in danger during an emergency.
“Data from the GP patient survey showed people’s experiences at the practice worsening over the past two years, but leaders hadn’t always used people’s feedback to make improvements. Likewise, the practice recorded incidents when things went wrong but couldn’t always show evidence they’d taken action to stop it from happening again in future.
“We’ve told the service where improvements are needed and will be monitoring the practice closely to ensure these are carried out urgently. We’ve also taken further enforcement action to protect people and will report on this when we’re legally able to do so.”
Inspectors found:
- Many people were cared for in carpeted clinic rooms, which were hard to clean and risked spreading infection. This had also been identified in an infection prevention and control audit by the local integrated care board. The provider and the landlord had plans to replace the carpets and improve the building’s front entrance by early 2024
- People weren’t always able to access appointments in a timely way. Leaders had made changes to the practice’s appointment system in response to feedback, though it will take time to assess the outcome of this
- The practice’s safeguarding systems weren’t always comprehensive, which could put people’s safety at risk.
However:
- People’s feedback described most staff as kind and respectful.