The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has downgraded the rating of Dr IK Babar & Partners in Rochdale from good to inadequate and placed the service in special measures, following an inspection in December.
Dr IK Babar & Partners provides GP services to around 8,000 people in Rochdale. The inspection was carried out due to concerns received about the quality of care being delivered.
Due to the level of concerns found during CQC’s inspection, inspectors issued warning notices to focus Dr IK Babar & Partner’s attention on making immediate improvements regarding staffing and good management.
Following the inspection, CQC has rated the areas of safe and well led as inadequate, and requires improvement for responsive, caring and effective.
CQC has also placed the service into special measures which involves close monitoring to ensure people are safe while they make improvements. Special measures also provides a structured timeframe so services understand when they need to make improvements by, and what action CQC will take if this doesn’t happen.
Alan Stephenson, CQC deputy director of operations in the north-west, said:
“When we inspected Dr IK Babar & Partners, we were disappointed to see such a deterioration in the quality of care being provided to people. Our experience tells us that when a service isn’t well-led, they are less likely to be able to provide good care which is what we found here.
“GP partners and senior leaders were unaware of the issues we found during this inspection. For example, when incidents occurred, we saw no evidence of discussions taking place, learning being shared or actions taken to keep people safe.
“It was concerning that people who were prescribed high risk medicines weren’t always called for check-ups in line with national guidance. Additionally, staff didn’t aways advise always people on risks related to their condition and what actions to take if their condition deteriorated.
“It was positive, however, that reception staff understood the diverse needs of people in the local community. For example, they used digital flags within the records system to highlight any specific individual needs, such as the requirement for longer appointments or for a translator to be present.
“We have told leaders where we expect to see rapid improvements and we will continue to monitor the service closely to keep people safe during this time.”
Inspectors found:
- The practice didn’t work well with people and health system partners to establish and maintain safe systems of care.
- They didn’t always involve people in decisions about their care and treatment.
- Staff didn’t always work with external partners to ensure everyone was involved in people’s care for the best outcomes and smooth transitions when moving services.
- The service didn’t ensure people’s confidential health records were stored securely.
- Leaders didn’t create a positive learning culture and didn’t carry out regular staff training and appraisals to ensure high-quality care.
- People’s personal, cultural, social, religious and equality characteristics needs were not always understood and met.
- Leaders didn’t routinely carry out disclosure and baring checks on new employees to ensure they had suitable backgrounds and experience.