Substances “that could be hazardous to health” were left unsecured at Liverpool doctors’ surgeries, an inspection has found.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has said surgeries operated under the Dr Jude’s Practice Group, including Dr Jude's Practice - Riverside and Picton, Fir Tree Medical Centre in Croxteth and Gillmoss Medical Centre, have issues to rectify following inspections earlier this year.
A spokesperson for the group said covid-19, staffing and demand had put pressure on the surgeries. According to reports made available by the CQC, all three surgeries were said to require improvement after visits from officials in March.
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The report at Dr Jude’s - Riverside and Picton said the practice was deemed as such because “improvements were required to the systems and procedures for ensuring care is provided in a way that keeps patients safe and protected from avoidable harm.” It added: “There was not an effective system in place for oversight of risks related to premises and equipment.”
It was also said at the Toxteth surgery's “systems for identifying, managing and mitigating some risks were ineffective”. The inspections took place as the CQC looked at a range of urgent and emergency care services in Liverpool.
At Fir Tree, it was reported that “systems and processes for monitoring patients' care and treatment were not consistently applied” but “patients were treated with respect and staff were kind, caring and involved them in decisions about their care”. Safety at Gillmoss was heavily queried by CQC officials.
They said the practice was given a rating of requires improvement because the provider could not evidence staff vaccination status and a fire risk assessment and a health and safety risk assessment of the premises had not been completed. The report added: “We found risks related to the premises the provider had not identified.
“For example, bolt locks on clinical and toilet doors that could not be accessed externally. The entrance to the practice and some clinical rooms were not suitable for those in a wheelchair or those with a pushchair.
“The provider’s system to manage significant events was ineffective as not all staff were trained in the process and records of investigations undertaken were not kept.” In addition, it was said substances that could be hazardous to health had been left in an unsecured part of the building, as was similarly the case with Dr Jude’s - Riverside and Picton.
A spokesperson for the group said some of the pressures highlighted in the report had been around before and further exacerbated by the covid-19 pandemic. One of the biggest pressures on the services had been staff, they said.
The spokesperson said the surgeries had been hit with a number of retirements and staff leaving, as well as having to buy their own personal protective equipment. The demand from patients had increased as a result of covid-19 and “for a couple of years, we haven’t been able to do the standard stuff” as a result, it was said.
During the visits, the spokesperson said the surgeries were “still in pandemic mode” and matters such as staff training had been delayed as a result of the pandemic. The surgeries were “focused on the covid programme” and energies were directed towards that in the most part, according to the spokesperson.
They added: “This is about listening to patients and changing. We have tried to promote from within and also recruited new management.”
