An 'Inadequate' GP surgery in Hounslow has been ordered to take further action after inspectors found safety was still not up to scratch.

Dr Kiran Kunwar's practice in North Hyde Lane, Southall , was rated 'Inadequate' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) last July and told to make improvements or face enforcement action.

But a follow-up visit to the North Hyde Medical Practice by the regulator in February this year found the surgery was still breaching legal requirements for safety and good governance.

Inspectors recognised some improvements had been made but they still raised a number of concerns and again gave it the lowest possible rating in their report, published on March 24.

'Care and treatment not provided in a safe way'

"Care and treatment was not provided in a safe way. The practice was not assessing the risks to health and safety of patients and mitigating risks," they concluded.

"The practice was not ensuring that all clinical staff were maintaining their skills and competence."

Among the worrying practices they highlighted were:

  • Staff still consulting an outdated medical text book from the early 1970s, which inspectors said was no longer suitable for use
  • Medics carrying out general internet searches, rather than using online resources specially designed for clinicians, meaning they were more likely to get misleading information
  • Poor clinical record-keeping, with electronic data not always matching paper files

The latest CQC inspection followed visits by NHS England in October 2015 and January this year, which found clinical record-keeping was "seriously below" the standards expected.

Some improvements made

CQC inspectors recognised the practice, which has just under 1,500 patients on its register, had made a number of improvements since their last visit.

Infection control was better, emergency oxygen and a defibrillator were now available, and recruitment and induction procedures had been updated, they observed.

But they said legal requirements were still not being met, and ordered the practice to outline its action plan to address these shortcomings if it wanted to avoid enforcement action.

getwestlondon has contacted the practice offering it the chance to respond.

The poor rating for the North Hyde Medical Practice follows another damning CQC report on a care home in Acton described as a "boot camp" by inspectors earlier this month.