GP surgery not getting better

A GP surgery will remain in special measures after health inspectors branded its services inadequate.

Dr Sidhu's Medical Practice, based at Werneth Primary Care Centre in Featherstall Road South was slammed by inspectors who rated it in the lowest band.

Safety, effectiveness and quality of leadership were found to be inadequate while care provision and responsiveness "required improvement".

Dr Sukhdev Singh Sidhu said significant improvements had been made over the last 10 months and staff were committed to addressing the remaining areas.

The practice was previously inspected in January, 2016, when the CQC rated it as inadequate and placed it in special measures.

Warning notices were issued in March, 2016, relating to safe care and treatment as well as good governance. A follow-up inspection in June found that improvements had taken place.

But a further assessment in October, 2016 ­- the results of which were published in a report this week ­- determined that the surgery would remain in special measures.

Chief inspector of general practice Steve Field said: "Insufficient improvements have been made.

"Due to the improvements that have been made since the initial rating of inadequate we have not yet started the process of preventing the provider from operating the service.

"Other enforcement action will be taken. They will remain in special measures. Another inspection will be conducted within six months and if there is not enough improvement we will move to close the service."

The CQC report highlighted that patient outcomes at Dr Sidhu's were low compared with the national average.

It pointed towards the latest national GP patient survey in which 65 per cent of patients said the last GP they saw was good at involving them in decisions about their care compared with the national average of 82 per cent.

Inspectors said in the report: "Clinical prevalence rates were below the CCG and national averages in all areas except diabetes, mental health and rheumatoid arthritis.

"The prevalence rates for some conditions were under 50 per cent of the CCG and national averages.

"The lead GP was unaware of how to diagnose conditions such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for some patient groups.

"Basic care and treatment guidelines were not always met. Required pre-employment checks were not always carried out."

However, inspectors commended the vision of the practice, the way staff worked alongside health professionals to meet patients' needs and the clear leadership structure.

They said "reasonable support" was given to patients when things went wrong and there were clear systems in place to safeguard patients from abuse.

Dr Sidhu said: "The practice is not where we would want to be at this time and for that we would like to sincerely apologise to our patients and their families.

"There has been a significant amount of improvement over the last 10 months and this has been acknowledged by the CQC throughout the report.

"However, we still have some way to go in a number of areas, some of which have been resolved. The staff are very committed and understand what still needs to be done. We are confident that we will get there. The practice is working very closely with partners to address the remaining areas."