Tottenham GP surgery praised by watchdog for ‘significant improvement’

A Tottenham GP practice that was previously placed in special measures following an inspection has now been rated ‘good’ after making a “significant improvement”.

Care Quality Commission (CQC), the health watchdog, welcomed the improvements made by Grove Road Surgery and said it is now “providing care that meets standards people have a right to expect”.

The GP practice in Grove Road, South Tottenham, was rated ‘inadequate’ following an inspection in July last year, when CQC identified breaches of regulations relating to complaints and governance. The watchdog issued a warning notice and put the surgery into special measures, meaning the provider could have been stopped from operating the service unless it made improvements.

Another inspection, which took place in March this year, found the practice had addressed the concerns raised in the warning notice, but the watchdog did not issue new ratings.

After the CQC carried out a “comprehensive inspection” of the surgery in September, it was rated ‘good’ in all areas in a report published this month.

Inspectors said the surgery was now compliant with the regulations it was previously found to have breached. They also found monitoring systems now kept patients safe in relation to the use of high-risk medicine, and that adequate systems were in place to manage risks associated with emergency situations.

CQC noted that when things went wrong, there were systems in place to review, investigate and learn. In addition, the practice had appropriate systems in place to act on safety alerts.

Jane Ray, CQC’s deputy director for London, said she welcomed the “significant improvement” made by the surgery and congratulated “those who have made this progress happen”.

She added: “Its leaders had addressed the issues we previously highlighted as undermining the care offered to people, and we found it now providing a much safer service for its patients.

“Helping services improve to provide high-quality, safe care and treatment to people is at the heart of what CQC does, so I am pleased the surgery has responded so robustly and that we have helped it turnaround provision.

“We continue to monitor the service, and it now needs to ensure these improvements are embedded and sustained.”

Grove Road Surgery has been approached for comment.