A Bermondsey GP practice has received a damning report from a health watchdog in which it is slammed as uncaring, unsafe and ineffective.
An inspection by the Care Quality Commission, which was carried out last November, has placed Grange Road Practice in special measures.
“Significant areas of concern” were discovered and the facility, located in the Bermondsey Health Centre, was given an overall rating of “inadequate” – the lowest mark possible.
The report stated: “Patients said they were not always treated with compassion, dignity and respect by staff and did not always feel involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.”
It added that “basic life support training” had not been undertaken by several staff members.
Neil Coyle, MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, said there was “no excuse” for the poor quality of care being provided by the surgery.
He said: “The inspectorate’s investigation paints a devastating picture of the quality of care available at this surgery. Local people deserve better healthcare and need to know their clinic is safe. Currently they don’t have that reassurance and the surgery must improve massively and rapidly. There really is no excuse for substandard care in our part of London and I will be monitoring their progress closely.”
The centre will receive extra support now that it has been placed under special measures from the NHS and Southwark CCG. If the practice is still ranked as inadequate after the next inspection, due to take place in May, it may face steps including loss of licence and de-registration.
A spokesperson for NHS England and NHS Southwark Clinical Commissioning Group said: “We want to reassure patients that an action plan is already underway to raise the standards at this practice to the level they expect and deserve. We are committed to ensuring patients receive high quality care and we are supporting the practice to make the necessary improvements and will closely monitor their progress.”