Leyland GP surgery placed in Special Measures after scathing CQC report - but bosses want to reassure patients

A Leyland GP practice has been slammed by health watchdogs - but bosses claim the inspection was "harsh" and a host of improvements have been made.

In a CQC report released on December 20, 2023, Moss Side Medical Centre, which is also known as Dr Uday Kanitkar, was rated as Inadequate overall, and placed in Special Measures.The report states that at the time of inspection on August 30 and 31, the surgery was not always safe, not well-led, not effective, required improvements so that services are responsive to people’s needs, but was caring.

These are some of the best-rated GPs in the Preston area

The last inspection was undertaken on December 15, 2018, and at that time the practice was rated good in all key questions and good overall. 

Key issues

Some key issues highlighted in the report were:  - "The environment was cluttered, poorly maintained and not conducive to good infection prevention and control (IPC)". 

- "Medicines were not managed safely in line with best practice recommendations". Some medication was stored in a non-medicine cabinet without temperature control, and there was a host of out-of-date items including a Histofreezer Cryosurgical system - a treatment used for removing skin lesions - which had expired June 2021, hypodermic needles which had expired September 2017 and surgical dressing which expired February 2019.

- Searches found 12 patients had a potential missed diagnosis of diabetes and a series of medication reviews and monitoiring had not occured.

-  Prescription paper was not appropriately controlled and recorded. Nor was it kept securely and in a way that prevented their unauthorised access or use.

- "There was a lack of oversight and ineffective systems and processes to manage staff mandatory training compliance, provide effective clinical supervision and regular appraisals.

- Information, such as from complaints and significant events, was not used for learning and improvement.

- "Confidential records were not stored securely".

What does the surgery say?  Dr Siddiqui was brought as a partner at the surgery following the inspection and wants to reassure patients.

He claims the unannounced inspection was "harsh" and "punitive rather than supportive", but says the surgery has carried out a raft of improvements.

This includes installing a new management team, new reception staff, making improvements to the building, and addressing all issues raised.

He said: "We are continuing to improve and submitted a report to the CQC on December 1".

He said that the surgery is rated as 5* in its patient survey and that there have been no patient complaints or significant incidents.