GP surgery given clean bill of health by inspectors

Dr Keith Jeffery.

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SIGNIFICANT improvements and changes at Failsworth Group Practice have seen the surgery jump from "special measures" and an "inadequate" rating to "good" in just six months.

Earlier this year the Chronicle reported that Failsworth Group Practice, in Ashton Road West, was deemed to be failing patients in terms of management standards by inspectors for the Care Quality Commission (CQC)

The practice, which has more thanr 12,000 registered patients, was placed in special measures after inspectors found appropriate criminal records checks on staff had not been undertaken prior to employment and some needles and syringes were past their expiry date.

Drastic

Inspectors added that blank, stamped prescriptions had been left in an unlocked room and staff were not clear about reporting incidents.

Spurred on by the initial assessment, the Partners at the practice have worked hard and have made drastic improvements to their service.

After being re-inspected in August, the practice has now achieved a rating of "good" overall, a jump of two rating levels.

Inspectors said: "Staff assessed patients' needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance.

"Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.

"Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment."

The report added that the practice had good facilities, was well equipped to treat patients and actively sought feedback from staff and patients.

Dr Keith Jeffery, who is the registered manager for the practice, said: "The initial CQC assessment revealed to us that we had not managed to keep up with the way the NHS was developing and was a spur to us all to get our act together and improve.

"The past few months have been hard work and some difficult decisions had to be made; however at our recent re-inspection, the CQC recognised the major advances we had made and that we were once again back on track in providing an effective, safe and responsive service to our patients.

"We are determined to maintain our momentum and are clear that ongoing improvement is our aim."

The practice was rated as "good" overall, however received a rating of "requires improvement" in the safety category as records showed one clinical staff member had not provided a comprehensive work history, including reasons for leaving past jobs and references.

The provider has been told to ensure all relevant pre-employment procedures are carried out.