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Five more GP practices face closure by the CQC

Five further GP practices are facing closure by the CQC, in addition to two practices which have been denied registration and have now been forced to reassign patients, the regulator has announced

Pulse first reported in January that two practices had been issued with closure notices. Today the CQC confirmed that they did not appeal this decision and the PCTs concerned have reassigned the practices’ patients to alternative GPs.

A further five practices have now been refused registration but still have 28 days as of when the closure notices were issued to appeal the CQC’s decision. After that the CQC then has a further 28 days to respond before the practices are closed.

One further provider was initially refused registration, but re-applied after making changes to its legal entity. It has now been granted registration.

Neither the practices which have been closed nor those which are now facing closure have been identified by the CQC, although patients at the two which have closed have been advised that they moved to a different surgery. A CQC spokesperson was not immediately able to clarify why the two practices had not been named or whether they would be in due course.

They added that the two practices that were closed were refused registration as they failed to answers questions put to them by the regulator about their individual fitness to practise.

Overall 7,563 out of the 7,607 providers - 99.4% - that applied to be registered by the 1 April deadline were registered in time, the CQC said.

Some 44 applications received on or just before 31 March 2013 are still being processed, but as they arrived within the required time frame, they are legally protected and can continue to operate.

The regulator is chasing 43 further providers to see if they are eligible for registration.

Commenting on the registration process, which began last July, the CQC’s head of registration Adrian Hughes said: ‘Registration of GP providers has been a tremendous success with just under 100% of those who applied registered in time for the April deadline.’

‘We would like to thank GP practice staff - their cooperation over the last year has made the process go very smoothly.’

He added that from this Thursday each registered GP practice will have a page on the CQC website so patients will be able to check whether their practice is providing a good quality service.

 

Pulse Live: 30 April - 1 May, Birmingham

Stephen Dorrell, chair of the House of Commons health select committee, will be talking about where general practice will fit into the NHS of the future at Pulse Live, Pulse’s new two-day annual conference for GPs, practice managers and primary care managers.

Pulse Live offers practical advice on key clinical and practice business topics, as well as an opportunity to debate the future of the profession, and a top range of speakers includes NICE chair designate Professor David Haslam, GPC deputy chair Dr Richard Vautrey and the Rt Hon Stephen Dorrell MP, chair of the House of Commons health committee.

To find out more and book your place, please click here.