Devon Doctors allowed 'unacceptable' incidents

The Care Quality Commission was conducting a specific review

A healthcare provider allowed "unacceptable levels" of serious and significant incidents, according to a regulator's report.

After concerns were raised, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said that safety at Devon Doctors was not a "sufficient priority".

One incident in its report described a visiting clinician being too busy to examine a patient who later died.

Devon Doctors said an improvement plan had been developed with the CQC.

The company is an out-of-hours GP service accessed by calling NHS 111.

Patient died

Another case study identified by the regulator involved a patient not being called back by a clinician because information was never passed on.

By the time the error had been found, the patient had died.

As well as not giving enough priority to safety, the provider was found to have "substantial and frequent staff shortages" which "increased risks to patients".

Further concerns were raised by the company's own staff over the response to coronavirus.

Employees told the CQC that if their temperature was high when it was checked on their way into work, they were told to sit in their cars with the air conditioning on to cool down before being checked again.

Devon Doctors said work to address specific issues was under way, and it was confident it could "once again deliver the high-quality care it has been providing to patients for the past 20 years".