A GP surgery in Redruth has been rated as 'Inadequate' and placed into special measures after its latest inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). 

The Harris Memorial Surgery in Illogan, Redruth, was visited CQC inspectors on May 18, 2023, following a previous inspection on 13 April 2018, when the practice had been rated good overall and for all key questions.

At the latest inspection, however, inspectors claimed they found that those areas previously regarded as good had not been continued. While the provider had maintained some good practice, the threshold to achieve a good rating had not been reached. The practice is therefore now rated inadequate overall.

In its report, which was released on August 31, 2023, CQC inspectors said: "I am placing this service in special measures. Services placed in special measures will be inspected again within six months.

"If insufficient improvements have been made such that there remains a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating the service.

"This may lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration within six months if they do not improve."

Inspectors also noted that, during the inspection, they found that: "The practice did not have clear systems, practices and processes to keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse.

"There were gaps in systems to assess, monitor and manage risks to patient safety and staff did not have the information they needed to deliver safe care and treatment. The practice did not always share learning or improvements when things went wrong.

"There was limited monitoring of the outcomes of care and treatment. The practice did not have a comprehensive programme of quality improvement activity and did not routinely review the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care provided."

"The practice could not demonstrate that all staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to carry out their roles."

"The overall governance arrangements were ineffective. The practice did not always act on appropriate and accurate information and there were no clear and effective processes for managing risks, issues and performance.

"The practice involved the public and staff to a limited extent. There was little evidence of systems and processes for learning, continuous improvement and innovation."

The CQC also found three breaches of regulations and gave the following instructions to the surgery: 

  • The provider should implement a system to clearly identify the outcome and action taken following any safety checks or audits.
  • The provider should take action to provide staff with clarity on the process for the dissemination of information contained within safety alerts.
  • The provider should implement a system to enable patients to access relevant health checks.
  • The provider should improve patient confidentiality in the reception area and take action to reduce the risk that confidential conversations between clinicians can be overheard.

A spokesperson for Harris Memorial Surgery said: “The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected our GP practice in May this year and identified some issues – we would like to reassure our patients that none of these related to clinical matters.

"The issues raised were mainly around internal governance, human resources and training. 

“We put an action plan in place quickly and are addressing the issues - most of the priority ones have already been resolved.

"We are liaising with the CQC and local Integrated Care Board (ICB) as part of the assurance process.

"All our services are running as normal and patients should attend their appointments as usual.

“We are committed to providing safe and effective services which meet the clinical needs of our patients.

"We are also committed to the long-term future of our surgery - for example, we have expanded our frontline service provision, including recruiting a pharmacist, social prescriber and physiotherapist, and have increased their number of sessions for patients. We are exploring further recruitment options too."