Report attached.

Officers from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) explained that North East London had the lowest healthcare ratings overall but the CQC had found that some GP practices were still failing to comply with Regulations which could lead to a practice’s registration being cancelled.

It was noted that the CQC was a Regulator and it was not the CQC’s role to undertake specific improvements. The CQC had worked with the Havering GP Federation to train practice managers, GPs and nurses on the CQC regulations. These covered what a patient expected from their GP practice. The CQC wished for GPs to be more responsive with shorter waiting times for appointments etc. 

A CQC rating of ‘requires improvement’ meant that a GP practice had breached regulations. If there was no improvement, a warning notice would be issued requiring improvements to be made within 12 months. If there was still no improvement, a practice could then be closed and this had occurred with one local practice. Struggling surgeries were encouraged where possible to merge with another practice rather than have their registration removed.

It was accepted that there was a shortage of GPs in Havering but this was also a problem nationally. There was a shortfall of 50 GPs across the BHR area but it was wished to provide more services via primary care.  A further problem was that the lucrative nature of locum work meant that recruitment of permanent GPs was difficult.

The Sub-Committee noted the position.