CQC explains closure of Brockhurst Medical Centre in Gosport

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) suspended medical services at Brockhurst Medical Centre in Gosport last year, following a poor inspection in November.

On December 5, The News reported that the surgery had been closed by the Fareham and Gosport CCG, but no reason was given for this at the time.

Now, the CQC has said that incompetent leadership and numerous risks to patients were found during the November inspection, having imposed urgent conditions on the practice in September last year.

Garry Higgins, CQC head of inspection for primary medical services in the south, said: ‘I am concerned that, despite imposing further urgent conditions upon Brockhurst Medical Centre to drive improvements, there was a lack of impetus.

‘Between inspections we found the practice had not adhered to the conditions placed upon it. On our return inspection in November we found no improvements in place.

‘The provider had previously taken the decision to close the practice and during this notice period CQC took the action to suspend the service. Brockhurst Medical Centre closed on January 9.’

As per the CQC’s inspection, care and treatment were not delivered in line with current legislation, some patients were not receiving the care and treatment they needed and there were gaps in the systems used to assess, monitor and manage risks to patient safety.

Furthermore, the practice did not have systems for the appropriate and safe use of medicines, again putting patients at risk.

The 5,800 patients who were registered to Brockhurst Medical Centre have been reallocated to other GP surgeries in the surrounding area.

The surgery got a ‘Requires Improvement’ rating from the Care Quality Commission in February 2019, but never managed to improve its rating in subsequent inspections.

Inspectors said staff treated patients with ‘kindness, respect and compassion’ but the practice was ‘unable to provide evidence that the required training had been completed by staff.’

According to Dr Rosie Benneyworth, who carried out the November inspection, concerns about the practice continued to escalate despite the surgery being placed into special measures.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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