South Downs GP surgery rated 'inadequate' by health regulators

Now the Care Quality Commission has placed Glebe Surgery in Storrington in ‘special measures.’ And it has warned the surgery that it may be stopped from operating if improvements are not made within the next six months.

Inspectors from the CQC carried out an inspection of the surgery in September and, in a report just out, said the GP practice had breached a number of regulations.

The inspectors said: “The practice did not always provide care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.

“Risks to patients, staff and visitors were not always assessed, monitored or managed in an effective manner. This included child and adult safeguarding processes, infection prevention and staffing including recruitment and supervision, medicines management, and information governance.

“There was limited evidence to demonstrate that all incidents, concerns, or near misses were consistently recorded or that opportunities for learning and quality improvement were identified.

“The responsibilities, roles and systems of accountability to support good governance and management were not always clear or effective.”

Additionally, the surgery was told it should take action to address its fire risk assessment by creating a documented action plan; improve the uptake of cervical screening; and.improve systems for the identification of carers and ensure all carers were provided with support.

Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services Dr Sean O’Kelly said in his report: “I am placing this service in special measures. Services placed in special measures will be inspected again within six months. If insufficient improvements have been made such that there remains a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating the service.”

He added: “Special measures will give people who use the service the reassurance that the care they get should improve.”

Glebe Surgery was rated ‘inadequate’ overall, but was rated ‘Good’ in categories of ‘caring’ and ‘response.’

The practice has nine GPs, an advanced nurse practitioner, three practice nurses, six health care assistants and a team of reception/administration staff.

A spokesperson for the surgery said: “We welcome the findings of the recent CQC inspection and are now working hard to address the areas that were identified as inadequate and requiring improvement.

“Patient safety is our top priority, and we are committed to taking the appropriate steps to provide the best possible service for patients. Since initial feedback in September, we have acted immediately to make significant changes to the way we operate.

“While the report did not highlight any patient harm, we have implemented new processes for safeguarding and infection prevention and we have a new system to ensure correct prescribing and monitoring of medication.

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“We were pleased to have been rated as 'Good’ in the areas for ‘Caring’ and ‘Responsive’ and the Glebe Surgery team is confident that any areas of concern will be significantly improved when we are revisited.

“We are communicating directly with our patients to inform them of the improvements and ensure any concerns are addressed.”