Practice Statement in Response to latest CQC Inspection

Bridgemary Medical Centre has already put steps in place to fully address concerns raised in a report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The practice has been rated inadequate by the CQC because “clinicians did not deliver care in line with current legislation and evidence-based guidance and there was no alternative rationale. Risks to patients had not been assessed and this affected the treatment of patients in all population groups.”

The CQC inspected the practice on June 24. Our practice is still rated ‘good’ for safe, responsive and caring services to patients.

A spokesperson for the practice said: “I would like to reassure all our patients that we have already put robust and wide-ranging plans in place to address all the issues raised by the CQC.

We have an extremely committed and hard-working staff – both clinical and non-clinical – who are all dedicated to giving every one of our patients the best possible care and treatment.

The CQC report made the point that there were plenty of areas of good practice in our services for older people, children and young people and patients with long-term conditions and/or those experiencing poor mental health. But there is obviously work to be done and we will ensure that we do it.

We have drawn up a detailed action plan to ensure that we can, in future, demonstrate that our staff have the skills, knowledge and experience to safely carry out our roles – and put clear systems and processes in place to evidence that we keep our patients safe.”

The action plan, drawn up in liaison with NHS Fareham and Gosport Clinical Commissioning Group, includes a number of new internal policies relating to ensuring that standards and evidence-based guidance are followed, as well as other areas such as dementia care, clinical governance and training.

Two specific proposals relate to appointing a GP as designated lead to ensure all new standards and guidelines are met and having a new post of a data quality administrator.

In the most recent national patients’ survey, undertaken last January, 72% of patients surveyed rated their experience of Bridgemary Medical Centre as very high or high quality. 86% said their experience of making an appointment was good.