Graham Road Surgery and Horizon Health Centre under further scrutiny from regulator

Inspectors said that not enough had been done to address previous breaches in regulation identified during the last inspection in June 2022.

Read the Care Quality Commission's report on Graham Road Surgery.

Read the Care Quality Commission's report on Horizon Health Centre.

Dr Sean O’Kelly, Chief Inspector of Health Care for the Care Quality Commission, 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 act in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating the service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration within six months if they do not improve.  

"This service will be kept under review and if needed could be escalated to urgent enforcement action. If there is not enough improvement, we will move to close the service by adopting our proposal to vary the provider’s registration to remove this location or cancel the provider’s registration."

Vicky Marriott, Chief Officer for Healthwatch Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire said: 

"We monitor the public experience, and we encourage people who use these services to contact us. You can:

• Check our 'Events' page to see when you can meet us face to face in Weston
• Call: 01275 244238
• Email: contact@healthwatchnorthsomerset.co.uk
• Complete our online feedback form

"In this way we continue to support the surgeries to put safe, effective systems of care in place. These are vital for patients in any community, but especially here, because these communities have faced shortcomings over a period of several years.  

"In 2020 and 2022 we used our statutory powers to Enter and View Graham Road Surgery and Horizon Health Centre, meeting the public and providing and repeating recommendations to the Pier Health Group. We share all anonymous themed insights with leadership teams and regulators via our 'Local Voices' reports. This service continues as a significant ongoing concern."

CQC inspection

At both surgeries, inspectors found: 

• The practice had not implemented necessary improvements to address breaches in regulations previously identified. 
• The practice was unable to demonstrate that individual care records were managed appropriately; and that staff had access to relevant information to ensure safe care and treatment.
• The practice had not ensured medicines were appropriately authorised before being administered by staff. 
• Positive outcomes from GP national patient surveys remained below national averages.
• There were no appropriate arrangements to manage backlogs of activity. 
• Oversight was not effective to ensure processes were embedded and operated effectively. 

At Graham Road, inspectors found processes to identify learning from complaints were not embedded in practice. 

In a statement on their websites, Graham Road Surgery and Horizon Health Centre said: 

"We take the safety and welfare of our patients very seriously and since the inspection we have been working hard to address the CQC’s concerns through a robust action plan. We have been in regular contact with the CQC and NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board during this time and continue to provide regular updates on progress. 

"We appreciate that the report may cause concerns for patients and want to reassure people that we are committed to making all necessary improvements and are confident that the outcome of any future CQC inspections will reflect this. The practice has new clinical leadership and has recently completed recruitment to all our clinical positions. These successful recruitments have taken place since the CQC inspections took place and we believe that we are in a stronger position to address the concerns raised by the CQC and deliver the necessary improvements.

"Our practice is continuing to operate as normal during this time and we encourage patients to continue to attend their appointments as usual."

If you're a patient at Graham Road Surgery or Horizon Health Centre, click the pink 'Talk to us' button below and complete our online feedback form.