Dulwich GP blasted by inspector for testing urine samples in hand basin
By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter
A GP surgery that tested urine samples in a hand basin has been blasted by an inspector.
Dulwich Medical Centre, in Crystal Palace Road, was placed in special measures following the visit by healthcare watchdog the Care Quality Commission [CQC] in September.
Patients complained about struggling to get appointments at the surgery in East Dulwich, according to the CQC.
Staff at a local care home claimed a severely ill resident was offered an appointment for a week later, despite going into the surgery in person.
The CQC received 13 complaints from patients about difficulty accessing care and treatment in the past 12 months.
CQC documents published on November 4 said: “We reviewed the practice’s infection prevention and control audit action plan.
“The plan also noted that there was no sluice at present and, at the time of the audit, the practice was testing urine in a hand basin.
“We were told by the practice manager that all samples were now disposed of in the clinical waste bin and that the practice had submitted an improvement plan to the ICS [Integrated Care System] in March 2022 which included a request for funding to fit a sluice.”
A patient participation group member told the CQC inspector that reception staff had previously been “unhelpful.” GPs at the surgery appeared to be only “provided one face-to-face appointment “per session,” according to a practice appointment book consulted by the CQC.
Despite this, the inspector noted that only one person had complained about difficulty reaching the surgery by telephone since January 2022.
The CQC report added that “the quality of clinical care provided was of a generally good standard”.
Dulwich Medical Centre was rated ‘requires improvement’ overall.
The surgery will be re-inspected within six months. If it has not adequately improved, steps could be taken to close it down.
Dulwich Medical Centre has been contacted for comment.
Pictured top: Dulwich Medical Centre in East Dulwich (Picture: Google Street View)
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