CQC threatens to suspend licence of ‘large scale’ GP provider

A major GP group in Plymouth covering tens of thousands of patients could have its licence removed after failing to make ‘substantial improvements’ ordered by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

In August, the CQC rated the Mayflower Medical Group “inadequate” and last month the regulator said it had served a “letter of intent” on the group after another inspection. Such a letter is the last step the CQC takes before a provider’s licence is suspended.

Licence suspension would affect around 40,000 people (a sixth of Plymouth’s population), who live in one of the highest areas of deprivation in the country – according to Public Health England (now the UK Health Security Agency).

Among the CQC’s concerns were safety fears about the way medicines were prescribed, poor management of high-risk patients, coding issues, limited monitoring of the outcomes of care and treatment, and patients experiencing difficulties accessing care and treatment.

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Source: HSJ, 2 December 2021