Oakham Medical Centre rated 'inadequate' by CQC
The provider has also been put in special measures by the healthcare inspectors
The Oakham Medical Practice say are trying to reassure patients that they are making improvements to their services
After they were given an Inadequate rating from the Care Quality Commission and put in special measure, today.
The healthcare inspector found that the practice was:
-'Inadequate' in being well-led and effective
-'Requires improvement' in being safe and responsive
-'Good' at being caring
What did the CQC say:
• The practice had a safety alert protocol in place, however on reviewing recent safety alerts we found they had not been acted on appropriately.
• During the remote review of the clinical system we found patients’ treatment was not reviewed or monitored on a regular basis. This included regular medication reviews.
• We found patients had been prescribed high risk medicines without the appropriate reviews taking place.
• The practice had some arrangements to identify risks, however we found staff had not received the recommended
immunisations and no risk assessments had been carried out to identify potential risks to patients and staff in the absence of immunisation status.
• Assurance systems were not effectively monitored to mitigate risk. For example: We found an emergency oxygen cylinder that had expired in 2019 had not been removed from the emergency medical bag.
• The practice had some staffing issues which had impacted on recruitment. The practice was continually trying to recruit and in the past nine months had employed four salaried GPs, four advanced nurse practitioners and an assistant practice manager
• On reviewing personnel folders, we found non clinical staff had not received recent appraisals and we identified gaps in staff training. For example: safeguarding and sepsis awareness.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
What did Oakham Medical Centre say in response to this?:
“We take the findings of the CQC report very seriously and have been working with our team, addressing each of the recommendations, to make improvements and provide patients with good quality care.
“We are encouraged however, that following the inspection earlier this April, the CQC acknowledged the positive way in which we deal with and work with our patients, involving them in decisions about their care.
We hope that this will offer some assurance to our patients of our commitment to provide them with safe, effective, responsive, well-led and caring services.
“We would like to pay tribute to our valued staff who are our greatest asset. Our staff have continued to work with true integrity and professionalism throughout the challenges of the pandemic, adapting and responding to an increase in demand of GP services.
We will continue to invest in our staff, enabling them to continue to provide good services to our patients.”