A Westminster GP surgery has been told to improve its safety after an inspection uncovered out-of-date equipment and missing medicines. St Johns Wood Medical Practice, which serves approximately 24,432 patients under the NHS North and West London Integrated Care Board, saw its overall rating drop from Good to Requires Improvement following a Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessment published on June 3.
The practice was rated as Requires Improvement in the categories of 'safe' and 'well-led', while 'effective', 'caring', and 'responsive' were assessed as Good. Inspectors found out-of-date oxygen cylinders stored alongside in-date ones, creating potential confusion. Many resuscitation items for cardiac arrest were missing or past their use-by dates. Certain medicines, such as morphine and anti-sickness tablets, were not stocked, although diclofenac injection was available. Additionally, there were no paediatric defibrillator pads for use in an emergency.
The inspection report noted: "We found issues related to safeguarding, safe environments, clinical care, emergency medicines and emergency equipment. We found that some required items were not available for use in the event of a medical emergency and staff training was not up to date." Governance, management, and sustainability received the lowest possible score of one, as leaders could not demonstrate regular audits of emergency equipment and medicines, and there was no effective system to track staff training.
However, the practice generally delivered services in line with good practice, handled complaints appropriately, and offered interpreting services. The report stated: "People were treated with kindness and compassion by the clinical staff. The dignity and privacy of patients were respected. Staff felt valued and appreciated. Staff wellbeing was treated with the utmost importance by the service."
A spokesperson for St Johns Wood Medical Practice said: "We were pleased that in our latest CQC visit, 3 out of the 5 domains were Good including good patient feedback. We were disappointed however that in 2 out of the 5 domains we were rated as 'requires improvement'. We disagreed with some of the report's findings and formally appealed, some of which were rejected by the CQC and so we will now be challenging their processes. We still believe that they have graded us incorrectly in certain areas. Nevertheless, we are now working at pace to implement changes based on the findings of their report and will continue to offer what we (and we hope our patients) think is a personal, highly accessible and excellent medical care to our registered patients."
