Oakham Medical Practice rated inadequate and put in special measures by Care Quality Commission

Oakham Medical Practice has been put into special measures after the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated the surgery inadequate.

In a report, the CQC inspector Dr Rosie Benneyworth, the chief inspector of primary medical services and integrated care, said the surgery in Cold Overton Road must ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients and establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in "line with fundamental standards".

Her report, published yesterday (July 14), rated 'caring' as good but said 'safety' and 'responsive' required improvement and 'effective' and 'well-led' were rated as inadequate, leading to an overall inadequate rating.

ALSO: Lakeside Healthcare in Stamford also inadequate

As a result, the Oakham surgery was placed into special measures meaning it will be reviewed again in six months to ensure improvements have been made. If not, the commission will "take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating the service".

The partners at Oakham Medical Practice said in a statement: “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.”

In her report, Dr Benneyworth said:

• The practice had a safety alert protocol in place but that recent safety alerts had not been acted on appropriately.
• During the remote review of the clinical system, patients’ treatment was not reviewed or monitored on a regular basis, including regular medication reviews.
• Patients had been prescribed high risk medicines without the appropriate reviews taking place.
• The practice had some arrangements to identify risks but staff had not received the recommended immunisations. 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 and inspectors 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, inspectors found non clinical staff had not received recent appraisals and gaps in staff training were identified, including 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.

She said the provider should continue to encourage patients to attend for cervical screening and monitor staff training.

Dr Benneyworth's report added: "Special measures will give people who use the service the reassurance that the care they get should improve."

The practice, which has about 16,000 patients, offers services at the main practice and also has a minor injuries and same day team situated at Rutland Memorial Hospital. Patients can access services at either site.

The announced inspection took place in April at the same time as at the same time as the CQC inspected a range of urgent and emergency care services in Rutland and Leicestershire