A medical practice in Bolton has been found to be in breach of health regulations after inspectors expressed concerns that a lack of 'failsafe' management processes and routine reviews could be 'potentially unsafe' for patients.
The Littlelever Health Centre 2, on Mytham Road in Little Lever, was given a 'Requires Improvement' rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following an inspection at the premises in February. Since April 2020, the medical practice has been renamed after sole and lead GP Dr Thirrupathy Subramanian.
The CQC report identified that systems managing safety and medicines ‘were not failsafe’. It also highlighted how meetings to monitor and discuss safety concerns were ‘not embedded’ into the practice.
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The health centre, which is part of the Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), was also found to have ‘not embedded’ relevant systems to ensure treatment was delivered according to evidence-based guidance.
Inspectors found the practice to be in breach of two regulations revolving around safe care and treatment and good governance. Identifying a breach of safe care and treatment regulation, the report said: “The registered persons had not done all that was reasonably practicable to mitigate risks to the health and safety of service users receiving care and treatment.”
The report found that patients taking combination medication for heart disease were ‘not routinely reviewed’, which was described as being ‘potentially unsafe’. It also found that patients with diabetes were not being correctly diagnosed.
Processes to ensure safe care and treatment were also ‘not maintained, including management of medicines’. It also found that ‘there was no plan of how safeguarding would be clinically managed in the event of sudden unexpected absence of the safeguarding lead’.
With breaches of good governance regulations, the practice was found to have ‘systems or processes in place that were operating ineffectively’. These systems, inspectors said, ‘failed to enable’ registered practitioners to access, monitor and mitigate risks regarding the health, safety and welfare of patients.
The report also found that systems in place to evaluate and improve governance processes ‘were operating ineffectively’. This included clinical audits and information obtained via significant incidents.
Alongside Dr Subramanian, the report outlined that there was a female locum GP and a part-time practice nurse working at the practice. Two practice managers and an assistant practitioner also support the centre, alongside a number of admin and reception staff.
The Dr Thirrupathy Subramanian practice was rated as 'Requires Improvement' regarding its safety, effectiveness and being well-led. The practice was rated 'Good' for its caring and responsive service.
The report noted: “Although there was compassionate and inclusive leadership at all levels, leaders did not demonstrate all the required knowledge and skills to effectively and safely deliver high quality sustainable care.”
Inspectors highlighted how staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and were involved in decisions about care. The report also found that patients ‘could access care and treatment in a timely way’.
When asked to comment on the report, a spokesperson for NHS Bolton CCG told the M.E.N: “We are working with the practice on meeting the requirements of an improvement plan, following the CQC inspection.” The Dr Thirrupathy Subramanian practice was unavailable for comment when approached by the M.E.N.
