Northampton GP surgery failed to ensure checks on some patients taking high-risk medicines

The Favell Plus surgery in Billing Brook Road was visited by Care Quality Commission inspectors earlier this year and a recently published report said rated it as ‘requires improvement’ in all categories.

One of their particular concerns was with repeat prescriptions for medicines.

Some patients on repeat prescription of drugs that need to be closely monitored were set up for an entire year with no review in between, the CQC found.

But a particular​ ​concern was whether blood tests were being carried out on patients who needed high-risk drugs on an ongoing basis.

​The chief inspector of general practice​, Professor Steve Field, writes in the report: “There was no robust system for making test results available to prescribers to ensure the safe prescribing of all high-risk medicines.

“For example, there was no record of a blood test being taken in the last month for more than half the patients on two specific medicines that required close monitoring.”

Although these tests may have been carried out at the hospital, the reports says, Favell Plus did not check this before repeat prescribing.

However the inspectors did note that patients on some other high risk medicines had received appropriate blood tests and results.

Following the inspection, the practice manager told the CQC they had been looking at these patients to develop an improved system of recording information regarding blood test results from secondary care.