GP inspections are damaging patient care, shows practice survey

England’s inspection programme for GP surgeries is having a damaging effect on patient care, with NHS resources wasted on employing extra locums and staff, a survey by the BMA has found.

Over 1900 general practices in England responded to the survey, which asked a range of questions covering practices’ experience of Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections. Some 62% of the practices had undergone an inspection under the Ofsted-style rating system, which was launched in October 2014.1

In the survey 80% of practices reported that preparing for a CQC inspection had resulted in less time available …