Strelley Health Centre in special measures after inspectors find staff lacking training

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Strelley Health Centre (Picture: Google)

Inspectors have said staff at Strelley Health Centre had ‘not all received the training required for them to perform their roles effectively and safely’.

The centre received an ‘inadequate’ overall rating after a visit from the Care Quality Commission, and was found to be ‘inadequate’ in four of the five measured areas.

In the other area, caring, it got ‘requires improvement’.

Beechdale Medical Group Partnership, which runs services at the centre, says improvements have already been made since the inspection.

The Care Quality Commission rates each health service on whether they are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

The service, on Strelley Road, has now been placed in special measures, meaning it will be monitored and inspected again within six months.

If sufficient improvements have not been made, the commission has the right to prevent the provider from operating the service.

In the report, the Chief Inspector of General Practice wrote: “The practice had not addressed identified concerns with infection control and electrical safety.

“Not all staff had received the training required for them to perform their roles effectively and safely.”

In terms of safety, the report read: “The healthcare assistant did not receive any supervision and there was no evidence their practice had been observed by a clinician.

“There was limited evidence available to illustrate GPs had received any training or to what level.”

The health centre’s cleanliness was also called into question with inspectors saying ‘the practice had not maintained appropriate standards of cleanliness and hygiene’.

The report, written following a visit in May, said: “We saw a sharps bin in one treatment room had been taken into use on June 14 2016.

“It is recognised best practice they are decommissioned and disposed of after three months or when three-quarters full, whichever is sooner.

“The arrangements for managing medicines, including emergency medicines and vaccines, in the practice did not minimise the risks to patient safety (including obtaining, prescribing, recording, handling, storing, security and disposal).”

A statement from Beechdale Medical Group, which runs the health centre, said: “The CQC has identified areas where we need to improve, a process which we commenced immediately and prior to the release of the inspection reports.

“Steps have already been taken in the last five months which have included the expansion of our GP workforce to provide additional available appointments, the recruitment of three new senior managers, the purchasing of new medical equipment, installation of new phone systems and measures to improve clinical governance processes.

“We are confident that the steps we have taken will benefit the patients who live in our locality and indeed already we have received much positive patient feedback.”