GP surgery told it must improve after nurse taken on without DBS check
Graham Road Surgery, in Graham Road, Weston, has received a 'requires improvement' CQC rating. Picture: MARK ATHERTON - Credit: Archant
A Weston-super-Mare surgery has been told it is not up to scratch by a Government watchdog, which has demanded improvements in the coming months.
Graham Road Surgery has been criticised by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), receiving a ‘requires improvement’ rating.
The surgery, which is managed by The Locality Health Centre (LHC), was inspected in November by the CQC. It’schief inspector Steve Field found the service’s safety levels and leadership were below par.
Mr Field’s report, which was published on December 28, said the surgery must improve its training, medicine management, health and safety, and complaints procedure.
Recruitment concerns were raised, with one nurse being employed without a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) criminal records check.
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The inspector also called on Graham Road to make improvements to infection control procedures, but he did find the surgery was reaching good standards in most criteria.
LHC’s chief executive Mark Graham told the Mercury he is ‘disappointed’ with the inspector’s findings.
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Mr Field’s report stated: “The surgery had not sought a DBS check for one clinician when they started employment.
“Safe storage and monitoring of stock medicines was not always maintained as we found medicines out of date.
“The practice was unable to provide information regarding any risk assessments.”
Mr Graham said an action plan is already in place to address the issues raised.
He said: “We are of course disappointed with the rating of requires improvement as we know staff are working extremely hard to provide a high-quality service with high levels of demand.
“We have already put an action plan into place to address these issues. This plan will be reviewed by the CQC in April and if we have satisfied the requirements then the rating will be changed accordingly.
“It was pleasing to see the inspector noted we rated good across all population groups we work with and staff are proud to work in the practice.
“We will build on the identified strengths and have already moved swiftly to put in actions which address the identified areas of concern.”
