11 November 2014
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Awadh Jha on 11 November 2014. Overall the practice is rated as inadequate.
Specifically, we found the practice inadequate for providing safe, effective, responsive and well-led services. It was also inadequate for providing services for older people, people with long-term conditions, families, children and young people, working age people (including those recently retired and students), people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable, and for people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). Improvements were also required for providing caring services.
Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:
• This practice is run with one GP only.
• The practice nurse had left the practice in recent months and there had been no recruitment of
staff to replace them.
• The secretarial staff as well as a practice manager had left the practice in recent months and
there had been no recruitment of staff to replace them.
• The practice was clean and patients told us they had no concerns with the cleanliness of the
practice.
• Patients were happy with the care treatment and support they had received. Patients told us they
had been involved and felt included in decisions about their care, treatment and support at the
practice.
• Patients were happy with the appointment system and said they could obtain an appointment
when they needed one and were able to get through to the practice on the telephone.
• The practice did not gather feedback from patients so that had the opportunity to improve or
influence the service they received and did not have a patient participation group (PPG).
The areas where the provider must make improvements are:
• Ensure the availability of appropriate medicines and equipment to deal with a medical
emergency.
• Ensure that medicines are stored correctly and safe to use.
• Protect patients and others who may be at risk of inappropriate or unsafe care and treatment, by
means of the effective operation of quality assessment and monitoring systems.
• Seek feedback from patients who use the service.
• Review their recruitment processes to help ensure that staff employed at the practice are safe to
work with vulnerable children and adults.
• Ensure sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, skilled persons are employed at the practice to
meet patient’s needs.
• Ensure that staff are up to date with mandatory training.
• Review staff records and ensure they are kept up to date.
• Revise patient records to help ensure they are up to date and contain key information such as
allergies, reactions to medicines and medical histories.
On the basis of the ratings given to this practice at this inspection, (and the concerns identified at a previous inspection on 29 October 2013), I am placing the provider into special measures. This will be for a period of six months. We will inspect the practice again in six months to consider whether sufficient improvements have been made. If we find that the provider is still providing inadequate care we will take steps to cancel its registration with CQC.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice