Inspectors Raise New Concerns About Medical Practice

New concerns have been raised about a GP Practice which looks after over 24,000 patients across Harborough.

The Care Quality Commission re-inspected South Leicestershire Medical Group after ordering improvements when they visited last year.

The practice’s main base is in Kibworth and there are branch surgeries in Market Harborough, Fleckney and Great Glen.

Although the CQC found previous concerns had been addressed, new areas of concern were found.

Inspectors, who visited the Kibworth Medical Centre and Great Glen Surgery in June, concluded:

• Patients were not always able to access care and treatment in a timely way.
• Services within the dispensary were not always being delivered in line with regulations.
• Medicine reviews were not always effective or completed in a timely manner.
• Practice leaders were not always aware of poor performance within some areas of the practice.
• The practice did not operate effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.

The practice continues to be rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ by the CQC, which has issued requirement notices and enforcement actions for certain regulations not being met.

Cllr Phil King, district councillor for the Kibworths, told HFM he hopes the issues identified can be addressed quickly:

Kibworth Medical Centre

A spokesperson for South Leicestershire Medical Group said: “South Leicestershire Medical Group welcomed the recent CQC inspection, where we were able to highlight the results of our exceptional efforts over the last year to address the areas highlighted at the previous inspection, the majority of which are now completed.

“At this most recent inspection, the new CQC team have identified some additional areas that now need our focus, most of which relate to operational matters, meaning simple changes to our processes have already resolved these concerns.

“We look forward to the further re-inspection so that we can provide the CQC team with the evidence of our responsive approach and the improvements we have already made, and will continue to make, to ensure we are offering the best possible services and care to our patients.”

A spokesperson for the South Leicestershire Medical Group Patient Participation Group (PPG) – a group of volunteers who are patients and whose aim is to be the voice of the patient and represent their views – told HFM: “Following the recent CQC inspection of South Leicestershire Medical Group, the PPG have met with the practice and discussed the report.

“We acknowledge that there are some changes that need to be made and we are fully committed to supporting the practice.”