A GP practice which cares for thousands of patients has been placed into special measures after serious failings were flagged with the NHS.

Medway Medical Centre has now been downgraded from ‘Good’ to ‘Inadequate’ following an unannounced inspection triggered by whistleblowing concerns.

The doctor’s surgery in Malvern Road, Gillingham delivers general medical services to around 8,360 patients and was inspected by the Care Quality Commission in September.

During the visit, inspectors identified several incidents in which people using the service were potentially at risk of or had sustained “serious harm or injury”.

This included one person who had attended the practice showing symptoms of a serious illness but was turned away by staff who told them there were no appointments available and to return the following day.

Inspectors also found the practice was unable to demonstrate staff had the skills, knowledge, and experience to carry out their roles.

They also discovered that safeguarding registers weren’t accurate, meaning there was no way for staff to assure themselves they had clinical oversight of where the risks were.

The provider was a unable to demonstrate staff had always undertaken disclosure and barring service (DBS) checks where required and it couldn’t demonstrate that it complied with the relevant safety alerts issued by medicine regulators.

Its leaders could not demonstrate that they had the capacity and skills to deliver high-quality sustainable care either, the report found.

Following the inspection, the overall rating for the practice, as well as the areas of safe, effective, and well-led have dropped from ‘Good’ to ‘Inadequate’.

The Medway Medical Centre’s ability to respond to people’s needs also declined from good to requires improvement.

Staff failed to identify how seriously unwell the person was and didn’t ask for advice

Neil Cox, CQC deputy director of operations in the south, said: “When we inspected Medway Medical Centre, we found a GP practice that wasn’t performing to the required standards to ensure local people were getting the service and treatment they deserve.

"During this inspection, we identified five incidents where people using the service were potentially at risk of or had sustained serious harm or injury.

“For example, we identified someone who had attended the practice showing symptoms of a serious illness.

“Staff told them there were no appointments available and to return the following day.

"Staff failed to identify how seriously unwell the person was and didn’t ask for advice from the clinician on site.”

In addition to this “widespread shortfalls” were also found across the service, including the assessment of risk, management of medicines, safeguarding, and governance.

Mr Cox explained: “The practice had an ineffective communication system which meant staff didn’t always have the information they needed to deliver safe care and treatment.”

The service has now been placed into special measures and, if CQC do not propose to cancel the provider's registration, there will be a re-inspection to check for significant improvements.

The health watchdog has imposed urgent conditions on the practice to restrict people from registering with the service.

Two warning notices have also been served to focus their attention on making improvements around safe care and treatment, and good governance.

In the meantime, the CQC will continue to monitor the service closely to ensure significant improvements are made.

Mr Cox added: “If we are not assured people are receiving safe care, we will not hesitate to take further enforcement action to ensure people are receiving the high standard of care they deserve.”

A spokesman for Medway Medical Centre explained that the practice had previously been ranked ‘Good’ in all areas in the previous CQC inspection in 2021 and is working very hard to return back to that rating.

He said: “We take the CQC’s findings very seriously. We have already made urgent changes and will continue to do so as we bring about the necessary improvements.

“The report is based upon their findings in September and is not reflective of the considerable amount of work the practice and staff have undertaken over the last few months to make the necessary improvements.

“We have recruited new staff members to improve our medication reviews and patient satisfaction and are working closely with NHS Kent and Medway and the CQC. We are also in the process of recruiting more clinical staff to make sure all our patients get the care they need.

“Our staff take great pride in providing high-quality care and are disappointed in the outcome of the report, however, we are confident our hard work to improve standards will be reflected in the next inspection.”