Staff at a Highland medical practice were not being sufficiently vetted to ensure they weren’t a risk to children and vulnerable patients, the P&J can reveal.
It has emerged that the Alness and Invergordon Medical Practices had “not been fully complying” with the requirements to carry out background checks on employees.
And one patient has hit out, describing it a “major breach of patient safety”.
NHS Highland took over responsibility of the surgeries at the start of February, sooner than had originally been planned, following the departure of several GPs.
As a result, the health board has been working through the usual pre-transfer due diligence process “retrospectively”.
This week it came to light not all staff had completed the necessary Disclosure Scotland and Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) registrations.
These are required by law to flag up the likes of unspent criminal convictions and potential harms someone may pose to children and protected adults.
What happens next?
NHS Highland says these issues aren’t the fault of individual staff at the Invergordon and Alness practices, who have “continued to provide quality care” during this time.
In a statement, a spokesman told us: “This is a responsibility of the employer, not the individual.
“And this is not in any way a reflection of the professional care and standards which colleagues at the practice provide.”
He added: “With appropriate notice, records are able to be checked before responsibility passes to NHS Highland, however this was not possible, as there have been challenges obtaining records.”
NHS Highland is undertaking a full and dynamic risk assessment process and put in place all necessary oversight and mitigation.”
The health board is now carrying out a “full and dynamic” risk assessment to ensure all the necessary checks and balances are now in place.
It described the issuing of new certificates as a priority.
Upheaval prompts cancelled appointments
Some patients at Invergordon have found their appointments cancelled at short notice as a result of the changes taking place behind the scenes.
One patient, who asked to remain anonymous, has called for a full-scale police investigation into the matter to hold those responsible to account.
They said: “This was the fault of the people in charge. I want these people to suffer the consequences of jail time.”
They also described the matter as a “major breach of patient safety,” adding: “Thousands of residents have put their trust in a health service that fails to follow a law that is in place for patient safety.”
Earlier this month the Invergordon medical centre was criticised by Luke Stoltman, who holds the title of Europe’s strongest man.
He felt his dad was being let down by the level of care on offer.
After sharing his story, he claimed hundreds of others had contacted him with their own concerns about the clinic.
Further disruption expected
The NHS Highland spokesman added: “We would like to apologise to all patients who were affected by the short notice cancellation of appointments.
“There may need to be some further disruption to services while we work through the process, but we will ensure this is kept to a minimum.
“We will continue to ensure that we deliver safe and effective care to our patients while we work through resolving this situation.”
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