An East Dulwich GP practice tested urine samples in a handbasin and some staff members’ Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificates had expired, according to a CQC report.
DMC Crystal Palace Road Medical Centre has been placed in special measures after inspectors concluded it ‘requires improvement’.
It will be inspected again within the next six months and if “insufficient improvements have been made”, the provider DMC Healthcare could be stopped from operating the service.
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The report said: “We reviewed the practice’s infection prevention and control audit action plan. The plan also noted that there was no sluice at present and, at the time of the audit, the practice was testing urine in a handbasin.
“We were told by the practice manager that all samples were now disposed of in the clinical waste bin and that the practice had submitted an improvement plan to the Integrated Care System (ICS) in March 2022 which included a request for funding to fit a sluice.”
Sluice rooms are rooms specifically designed for the disposal of human waste products and disinfection of associated items.
The report also found that Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks were only partially undertaken.
DBS checks allow employers to check criminal records to see if candidates are allowed to work with vulnerable adults.
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It also found that the practice did not have oversight over temporary staff’s training, some of whom no longer had valid infection prevention control training.
Cervical screening and child immunisation targets were also “well below” local and national averages.
The report concluded: “The service will be kept under review and if needed could be escalated to urgent enforcement action.
“Where necessary, another inspection will be conducted within a further six months, and if there is not enough improvement we will move to close the service by adopting our proposal to remove this location or cancel the provider’s registration.”
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Anil Gupta, Southwark Practice Manager at DMC Healthcare, said: “We want to start by apologising to patients for being in the current situation of ‘requiring improvement’ following a visit by the CQC. We are working hard with our clinical and administrative teams to turn things around quickly with the help of external support, further recruitment of staff to answer phones and handle patient queries and see patients promptly.
“We have commissioned work with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) to help analyse and identify a workable and achievable action plan, something shared with our staff and the CQC.
“I am personally taking back control of running the practice which I had managed from 1990 for many years. Dr Ravi Gupta and I are fully dedicated to ensuring we deliver the best possible service and care and are holding oversight and actions on a daily basis.”
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