A Nottingham GP practice has been placed in special measures after a health watchdog found its care was not always done in a way that kept patients safe. Unity Surgery, based in Westdale Lane, Mapperley, cares for 4,269 patients.
Its services have been heavily criticised by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which rated it as 'inadequate' in every area that was inspected in July. A damning report, published on October 5, said whilst most patients did have effective care, some patients with long term conditions had not been receiving up-to-date reviews and monitoring.
For example, three of five diabetes patients who inspectors checked had overdue reviews, with one last being seen in July 2019. NHS guidance says people with type 2 diabetes should get blood sugar checks at least every six months.
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One patient with hypothyroidism - an underactive thyroid - had not had a blood test in almost five years. Inspectors said the practice, which has 13 GP sessions a week, had no system to ensure that care was not compromised when key members of staff were off.
"The lack of practice nurse cover had resulted in a backlog of work upon their return, including over 100 long term conditions reviews," the reports reads. "The provider had reduced nurse appointment times from 15 to 10 minutes to try and reduce the backlog. Staff told us that this did not provide enough time to effectively clean consultation rooms between face-to-face appointments with patients."
The ratio of patients to nurse was 5,209:1, well above the local average of 3,480:1. "The provider told us that the Covid pandemic, difficulty in recruiting staff and an increase in the list size all impacted on the practice and the workload of staff," the CQC report adds.
The CQC pointed out other problems, such as the fact not all staff had completed training essential to their role and not all clinical staff had completed training to help identify and deal with sepsis. It also said there was no evidence of staff being vaccinated in line with the UK Health and Security Agency guidance.
It did add that staff at the practice did however dealt with patients with "kindness and respect" and involved them in decisions about their care. Patients could also access care and treatment in a timely way. Unity Surgery declined to comment. When the practice was previously inspected in December 2017, it was rated 'good' overall.
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