A GP surgery in Lye has been rated inadequate and placed in special measures with orders to make rapid improvements.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has imposed conditions to protect patients at The Limes Medical Centre where some people with newly-diagnosed with diabetes had not been informed.

The surgery, which provides care for more than 6,000 patients, was inspected in June in part due to concerns about people’s safety and the culture of the service, the CQC said.

During their investigation, CQC inspectors found people’s needs were not always assessed, and that care and treatment were not always delivered in line with current legislation, standards and evidence-based guidance.

Inspectors noted the culture at the surgery did not effectively support high quality sustainable care and there was no evidence of systems and processes for learning, continuous improvement and innovation.

They also found gaps in staff recruitment and training and limited oversight and supervision of staff.

Staff morale was also found to be very low with a number of staff reporting a continued lack of communication.

Andy Brand, CQC deputy director of operations in the Midlands, said: “When we inspected The Limes Medical Centre, we were concerned to see a lack of strong leadership and a culture that didn’t encourage high-quality care. This was affecting people using the service as there weren’t effective processes in place to enable staff to provide safe care.

“We found systems to investigate concerns and share learning following incidents weren’t always followed. In some cases, when staff raised concerns, they didn’t believe they would be investigated and managed properly.

“We found people with long term conditions weren’t monitored properly and weren’t always offered an annual review to check their health and medication needs were being met. For example, there were 24 people whose results showed they had a new diagnosis of diabetes, but no one had informed them or arranged for monitoring of their condition.

“We saw the practice offered appointments by telephone, online, and in person, however, staff struggled to book appointments due to a lack of communication with GPs. As a result, people weren’t always able access appointments in a timely way.

“We found that the environment wasn’t well maintained and found health and safety and fire safety issues hadn’t been actioned. This included water temperatures not being safe, fire extinguishers not being maintained, and there was a lack of processes in place, as well as concerns around the security of the building.

"We have told leaders at The Limes Medical Centre where we expect to see rapid and widespread improvements and will continue to monitor them closely to keep people safe while this happens. We will return to check on their progress and won’t hesitate to take further action if people are not receiving the care they have a right to expect.”

The surgery has been told it must develop an action plan outlining how improvements will be made and when they will be achieved following the fall in its overall rating from requires improvement to inadequate.

The Limes has been approached for comment.

Mona Sihdu, medical director of primary care for the NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board, said: “We are aware of the CQC report findings for The Limes Medical Centre, and we are working with both the practice and the CQC inspectors to understand the findings in full.  

“We welcome the report as an opportunity for the practice to learn, rectify the issues identified and improve services for their patients. We will work with the practice to develop an action plan and ensure significant and immediate action is taken to address the concerns raised.”