Inadequate Pelsall GP surgery put in special measures

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has given the basement rating of 'Inadequate' to the Dr Shamim Sameja practice at Pelsall Village Centre on High Street.

Safety and leadership were highlighted as the worst areas after inspectors visited in October. And an ineffective process for dealing with patient incidents was among safety issues found.

The CQC report said: "Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and report incidents and near misses, but we found the provider was unable to demonstrate that an investigation was completed following an incident, lessons learned and actions taken to mitigate the risk of further occurrence were discussed and implemented."

• Click here to read the full CQC report

The watchdog rated leadership at the practice as 'Inadequate', with the report stating: "We saw evidence of poor record keeping and we found the provider had no system to investigate incidents or to learn from these to prevent events reoccurring.

"There was no system in place to identify and provide for the training needs of staff, for example, in relation to health and safety, infection control and chaperoning."

In the category of 'effectiveness' the practice was rated as 'Requires Improvement', while 'caring' and 'responsiveness to needs' were rated 'Good'.

The report outlined that the practice was well thought of by patients stating: "Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respec."

Chief inspector Steve Field said: "I am placing this service in special measures. Services placed in special measures will be inspected again within six months.

"If insufficient improvements have been made we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating the service.

"This will lead to cancelling their registration, or to varying the terms of their registration."

In a joint response from Walsall Clinical Commissioning Group and the surgery, Dr Sameja, said: "We take the concerns outlined by CQC very seriously and I would like to reassure patients that swift and clear actions have been taken to make necessary improvements.

"New management has been in place at the surgery since January 2017 and this has coincided with a review and overhaul of the practice's policies, significant event reporting and lessons learned.

"Administrative and clinical meetings now take place monthly to ensure that we are working together as a team for the benefit and safety of our patients. Staff are all being fully trained on relevant and necessary modules outlined by the CQC."

Sally Roberts, from the NHS Walsall Clinical Commissioning Group, said: "We are working closely with the practice to support them with the improvements outlined above."