GP practice 'broke staffing and management rules'

Castletown Medical Centre was downgraded to "requires improvement" overall

A GP practice breached staffing and governance regulations, the health regulator said.

Dr Hesham Moustafa Koriem, who formerly ran Castletown Medical Centre in Sunderland, was served a warning notice by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) at the end of September.

Inspectors found staff were employed without criminal record checks and tasks like blood checks had been delayed for almost a year.

The GP practice has since been taken over by the Archvale Partnership, which said it was "pleased to report significant early progress in our improvement journey". Dr Koriem has been unable to be reached for comment.

An assessment was carried out between 30 July and 6 August, following concerns raised.

It found three breaches of legal regulations in relation to governance, staffing and fit and proper persons employed.

Inspectors also found staff training and recruitment records were incomplete.

Disclosure and barring checks had not been obtained for all staff and some references were not filed.

The watchdog also said staff were asked to sign their employment contracts on the day of the inspection, but were then told they had been signed on the day the staff commenced employment or in the days after.

'Whistleblowing information'

During the inspection, some staff told the CQC they were "stressed", "bullied" and there was a "lack of staff support".

However, following the assessment, inspectors said they received emails from some staff stating they were "supported".

The CQC said it had received "whistleblowing information" that Dr Koriem had contacted staff and asked them to email to say how good he was at his job.

"Staff were said to be worried at this and did not want to do this," the report said.

"Whilst discussing record keeping, the provider told us they had no 'admin skill' and agreed that 'it' (the running of the practice) had failed.

"The provider initially blamed staff because governance arrangements were ineffective.

"They then acknowledged that they had the responsibility for the whole practice and struggled with the administrative duties. The provider acknowledged some staff did not have the experience for the roles which they were recruited into."

At the time, Dr Koriem told the CQC there was an "open-door policy" at the practice.

The CQC rating was downgraded to "requires improvement" overall.

New managment

The full running of the practice was taken over by the Archvale Partnership on 1 October.

Dr Zubair Ahmed - who is one of the partners at the company - said: "Dr Koriem has no longer been involved with anything related to the practice since then."

A new practice manager has been appointed and a "quality improvement plan" also put in place.