The Care Quality Commission (CQC), has re-rated Great Barr Medical Centre, a GP practice in Birmingham, as inadequate and it remains in special measures to protect people following an inspection in November last year.
In June 2023, following their first inadequate rating, CQC suspended the registration of the three GP partners for six months, and the service was taken over by a caretaker organisation in order to ensure the continuity of people’s care, and their safety. The GP partners returned in February 2024 following their suspension.
CQC returned for this latest inspection in November last year to check on the progress of the improvements they were told to make. The service has again been rated inadequate for how effective they are, and requires improvement for caring and responsive. Safe drops from requires improvement to inadequate, while well-led moves from inadequate to requires improvement.
The service will remain in special measures which means the CQC will continue to keep it under close review to make sure people are safe while they make the improvements they have been told to. CQC has begun the process of taking regulatory action to address the concerns which Great Barr Medical Centre has the right to appeal.
Andy Brand, deputy director of operations in the midlands, said:
Despite the green shoots of improvements in leadership that we saw, we were disappointed to find that Great Barr Medical Centre still wasn’t providing safe or effective care, with further pockets of deterioration. Improvements weren’t as rapid or widespread as they should have been despite our previous inspection report identifying the specific areas where these were needed.
People using the practice found it difficult to access the service and experienced mixed outcomes when they did receive support.
Behind a lot of the practice’s issues, were poor systems and processes which leaders need to address as a priority. Systems didn’t help staff to monitor people’s care and treatment. We identified people who this had impacted directly. A data coding issue had led to four people having a missed diagnosis of diabetes impacting their health and ongoing care.
Leaders also weren’t ensuring staff had received the appropriate training and monitoring to enable them to care for people safely. Some staff had delivered asthma reviews to people despite not being competent to complete them, putting people at risk of harm.
Leaders at Great Barr Medical Centre need to make the improvements identified urgently to make sure people are being kept safe. We will continue to monitor the practice to make sure people are safe while this happens.
Inspectors found:
- The practice’s records highlighted poor recording of examinations and incorrect doses of medicines prescribed.
- Staff hadn’t received the appropriate training and monitoring to ensure they were competent in their role.
- Leaders were unable to provide assurances that clinical decision-making supervision was in place for staff.
- People with long-term conditions weren’t always offered an annual review to check their health needs and review prescriptions.
- The practice hadn’t acted on issues identified by risk assessments and audits, putting people and staff at risk.
However:
- 91% of people felt their needs were met at their last GP appointment according to national data, which is in line with local and national averages.
The report will be published on CQC’s website in the coming days.
