Doctors’ surgery fails inspection
A FAMILY GP surgery on Tyneside has been branded inadequate after failing an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.
The Dilston Medical Centre in Dilston Avenue, Arthur’s Hill in Newcastle’s West End, was rated worst in all five categories covered by inspectors.
They said it was not safe, not effective, not caring, not responsive to patient needs and not well-led. It followed two previous inspections which said the practice needed improvement. Alison Holbourn, deputy chief inspector of general practice for the North, said she wanted to see improvement urgently. And she warned the surgery could be closed if it did not pull its socks up. She said: “The service has been placed in special measures and will be kept under review and if needed could be escalated to urgent enforcement action. And if there is not enough improvement we will move to close the service.”
Inspectors found patients were at risk of harm because systems and processes were not in place to keep them safe. They also found there were concerns about the processes for infection control, handling clinical correspondence and the premises not being adequately maintained. The report said when things went wrong, reviews and investigations were not thorough enough.
Ms Holbourn added: “I expect providers should use our inspection reports to help address their problems and rectify them as a matter of urgency. It’s therefore disappointing to report that following two previous inspections in 2014 and 2016, this practice had deteriorated even further. There was little evidence of learning or reflective practice evident. The practice did not have effective processes in place to learn and improve.”
The surgery said it had a plan to improve.
Dr Nicolae Botan said: “We take these concerns very seriously and we have a clear plan to improve our systems and make the necessary improvements.
“We are very aware of the issues with our premises, and we are taking steps to make immediate improvements as well as putting a longer term solution in place.
“With a strengthened management team and a new team of GPs in place, we are confident that we will meet the inspectors’ requirements over the coming months.”