Horsham GP surgery told it must improve

Park Surgery in Albion Way was inspected by the Care Quality Commission in May and, in a report just out, was said to have breached regulations.

Rating the practice as ‘Requires Improvement’, the commission said that “the monitoring and prescribing of patients’ medicines, including those that were high risk, did not always demonstrate that patients had all the required healthcare monitoring.

“Action plans for health and safety, fire and legionella risks assessments were not in place in the practice.”

It added: “We identified concerns around clinical governance. Health and safety risk assessments were not always accurate and managed in a way that provided appropriate reassurances that actions had been taken.”

In the commission’s report, chief inspector of hospitals and interim chief inspector of primary medical service Dr Sean O’Kelly said: “We found breaches of regulations.The provider must ensure that care and treatment is provided in a safe way.

“Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.

“Keep under review and act where necessary, to respond to patient feedback and experience on access to services.

“Continue to support the patient participation group with patient engagement.

“Continue to build on the practice action plans, including staff engagement and communication strategies.

“Keep staffing levels under review.

“Continue and keep under review, the staff vaccination action plan in line with current UK Health and Security Agency guidance, relevant to their role.

“Continue to monitor the uptake of cervical screening.”

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However, the report highlighted some of the surgery’s good points. It said the practice “in most instances, provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.

“Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.

“Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.

“The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the Covid-19 pandemic. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.

“The practice had implemented plans to address the results of feedback from staff and patient surveys.”

Park Surgery had previously been rated ‘Good’ after its last inspection in 2017.