Medway Medical Centre rated inadequate put into special measures

The Care Quality Commission has imposed urgent conditions on Medway Medical Centre in Gillingham, Kent

A medical centre rated inadequate has been put into special measures by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The watchdog has imposed urgent conditions on Medway Medical Centre in Gillingham, Kent, to restrict people from registering with the service.

An inspection in September was prompted in part after NHS England informed the CQC of anonymous whistleblowing concerns it had received.

The medical centre said it had made "urgent changes" to its protocol.

The practice delivers general medical services to about 8,360 people in Gillingham.

'Widespread shortfalls'

Following the inspection, the overall rating for the practice, as well as for categories for being "safe", "effective" and "well-led", dropped from good to inadequate, while being "responsive" declined from good to requires improvement.

Two warnings have been served to focus the centre's attention on making improvements around safe care and treatment, while the service has also been placed into special measures.

This means it will be kept under close review to ensure people are safe, and a re-inspection will take place to check for significant improvements.

Neil Cox, CQC deputy director of operations in the south, said the inspection found five incidents where people using the service were potentially at risk of or had sustained serious harm or injury.

"For example, we identified someone who had attended the practice showing symptoms of a serious illness. Staff told them there were no appointments available and to return the following day," he said.

"Staff failed to identify how seriously unwell the person was and didn't ask for advice from the clinician on site."

Mr Cox added that "widespread shortfalls" were discovered, including the assessment of risk, management of medicines, safeguarding and governance.

A spokesman for centre said it took the CQC's findings "very seriously".

"We have recruited new staff members to improve our medication reviews and patient satisfaction, and are working closely with NHS Kent and Medway and the CQC," they said.

"Our staff take great pride in providing high-quality care and are disappointed in the outcome of the report, however, we are confident our hard work to improve standards will be reflected in the next inspection."

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