Birmingham medical centre where fire escape routes were blocked is put in special measures 'to protect people'
A medical centre has had its registration suspended for six months after an inspection found it to be inadequate and needing improvements to keep patients safe.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) suspended the registration of Naseby Medical Centre in Saltley in Birmingham to keep people safe while the practice makes improvements the CQC has instructed it to.
The CQC has also downgraded its overall rating from 'requires improvement' to 'inadequate' following an inspection in July and August.
Naseby Medical Centre, run by a company of the same name, is a GP practice delivering services to more than 5,500 people in Birmingham and the CQC carried out the inspection to follow up on concerns identified and a warning notice issued after a previous inspection.
The inspection uncovered issues with breaches of regulations relating to safe care and treatment and good governance and uncovered a number of issues, which were detailed by inspectors in the report.
A spokesman for the CQC said: "Leaders didn’t have effective systems to investigate incidents, and as a result they weren’t able to identify opportunities to improve services and people’s experiences.
"Naseby Medical Centre used outdated paper-based record systems which limited their ability to share information efficiently and respond to requests for documentation during the inspection.
"Leaders didn’t understand the risks people could face and how to mitigate these to keep them safe.
"The practice didn’t have enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience to manage the number of people registered.
"Leaders didn’t ensure adequate fire safety arrangements were in place, as some evacuation routes were blocked."
The CQC said inspectors were initially reviewing compliance with the notice but identified additional concerns and as a result expanded the initial scope of the inspection.
Urgent enforcement action was taken to suspend the company’s registration for six months due to the seriousness of the concerns that were found, to keep people safe.
The CQC said it engaged with the local integrated care board (ICB) throughout to ensure people weren’t left without access to healthcare, and the ICB put in place caretaker arrangements to ensure people could still access services.
It has also downgraded the ratings for how safe and effective the service is from 'requires improvement' to 'inadequate', while how caring and responsive the service is have been downgraded from 'good' to 'requires improvement', and how well-led the service is has been downgraded from 'good' to 'inadequate'.
The CQC said it has placed the service in special measures, which means it will be kept under close review to keep people safe while improvements are made.
Andy Brand, CQC deputy director of primary and community care in the Midlands, said: “During our inspection of Naseby Medical Centre, we had significant and serious concerns about the ability of leaders to understand the service and the people they supported.
"They need to understand these well to ensure they’re providing people with effective care that meets their individual needs.
"They also needed to address issues we found around the monitoring and management of people’s care and treatment.
“People told us they were concerned about how the practice managed their long-term conditions, and we found staff didn’t manage these effectively.
"For example, staff weren’t regularly reviewing people’s diabetes which could result in them developing serious, life-changing complications if their needs had changed.
“We found the practice records had out-of-date and inaccurate information, which could mean people received treatment that didn’t address their current needs.
"Staff also didn’t deliver care based on the latest evidence and good practice.
“Naseby Medical Centre didn’t work with out-of-hours services to follow up on people who had needed support.
"We saw records of a person who had called an ambulance for a suspected stroke but refused to attend hospital.
"Although the GP said they had followed this up, the next entry in the person’s record was for a different condition with no reference to possible stroke symptoms.
“Staff didn’t regularly monitor people’s medications to check they were still appropriate.
"Inspectors found two people with asthma who had been prescribed a medication for anxiety that made their asthma inhaler ineffective.
“We took steps to suspend Naseby Medical Centre’s registration due to our concern about the quality of care the practice was delivering.
"Leaders need to make urgent improvements following this, and we will consider further regulatory action if appropriate.”
