A 'DISORGANISED' GP practice which could not prove one of its doctors was professional registered and that a nurse had been cleared to work alone with patients has been rapped by inspectors.

Botley Medical Centre, in Elms Road, Botley, has been downgraded to requires improvement by Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors who raised issues with patient safety, recruitment checks, and 'below average' feedback.

The details of an unannounced inspection in March/April found a number of flaws at the centre, which also run Kennington Health Centre after merging in 2017.

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Both sites were inspected and found to 'require improvement' across three of the five keys areas; safe, caring, and well-led.

It achieved good ratings for two areas; effective, and responsive.

A report by chief inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care Rosie Benneyworth said nine recruitment files for clinical and non-clinical staff were inspected and no file had the necessary background checks.

Following the inspection, the centre provided a number of recruitment files over email, but inspectors said 'there was still a significant number of gaps in recruitment checks'.

The report added: "A DBS check had not been completed for a practice nurse. The practice told us this had been applied for but did not provide any evidence of this.

"The practice could not demonstrate that a risk assessment had been undertaken to assess the risk of this member of staff working alone with patients until the DBS clearance was obtained.

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"The practice was unable to demonstrate they had checked and obtained evidence of professional registration for one GP."

Other areas of concern raised in the report included evidence of delays and lost prescriptions, as well as one single glucagon medicine found to have an expiry date of October 2018 - this was removed immediately.

Th report added day-to-day management was 'disorganised' and despite hearing that patients felt they were treated with kindness and respect, feedback from a national survey and others was below average.

The centre cares for 16,500 patients in the city and previously had been rated good by CQC inspectors.

Despite the concerns, the report did say patients 'received effective care and treatment that met their needs', appointment systems were 'flexible' and patients felt involved in decisions about their care.

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Dr Aintzane Ballestero, senior partner at Botley Medical Centre, said: "Partners and staff are disappointed by the outcome of the CQC inspection but we are committed to providing good quality care to our patients.

"We have a detailed plan to address all the points in the report which we have already put into action. We have already made changes to our processes around emergency medications, recruitment and online record keeping.

"We are fortunate to have a supportive and proactive patient participation group which provides welcome feedback about our services.

"We will continue to work with them and our wider patient population to take on their views and ideas for sustainable good quality care."