A HEALTH watchdog has apologised to GPs after 60 surgeries were told they were no longer a high risk of poor patient care.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) came under fire from doctors after issuing bands last month for GP surgeries across the country to prioritise inspections.
Eight surgeries across East Yorkshire were caught up in the row after they were given the highest band of one because they were perceived to be at the highest risk of poor patient care.
At the time, the Mail reported doctors were highly critical of the measures used by the CQC because they did not reflect their services, facilities or the health of their patients.
Now, the CQC has apologised and is removing one of its measures and updating the data used in the bandings.
Professor Nigel Sparrow, senior national GP advisor at the CQC, said: "Sixty practices previously in higher priority bands one and two will now move to bands that are of lower priority for inspection.
"We will contact each of those practices to apologise for any concern this may have caused GPs, their staff and their patients."
The CQC has not yet revealed how many of the four GP practices in Hull and four in the East Riding will no longer be prioritised for inspection as it is contacting the GPs first before making the details public.
When the information was released by the CQC, doctors expressed concern the data did not take into account levels of deprivation or other factors outside their control, such as number of smokers or those with chronic conditions.
One of the GPs whose practice was given the lowest rating said he was now writing to the CQC to demand an apology.
The GP, who asked not to be named, said: "The reason the CQC bands were wrong is because their information is wrong.
"We have been visited and inspected by the CQC just a year ago and passed. I don't like that the CQC has been providing information to the public that is false."
The CQC published the GP Intelligent Monitoring system to help them prioritise their inspections.
Prof Sparrow said: "This first set of data, published in line with our commitment to transparency, showed overwhelmingly that most GP practices were of low concern.
"Following feedback from national and local stakeholders and working with NHS England, we have now completed a comprehensive review of the data and, as a result, there are a number of changes."
As well as the 60 GPs who will no longer be prioritised for inspection next year, seven practises will be given a lower rating based on the new data.
Prof Sparrow said: "I would like to take this opportunity to reinforce the message that the banding is not a judgement.
"Intelligent monitoring will never be used in isolation to make a final judgement or produce a rating of a GP practice."
'Banding system should be withdrawn'BMA GP committee chairman Dr Chaand Nagpaul said: "We warned at the time that simplistic targets would fail to take into account the enormous pressures GP practices are facing and that skewed and limited information does not tell us about the quality of care.
"These failings have the potential to seriously undermine the trust in the system and patients' confidence in their GP and it is only right that all of those practices affected are now contacted and receive a full apology.
"The CQC has also reiterated that these bandings are not a reflection of the quality of care a practice provides, a fact that means the inspection regime could even, in its revised state, mislead the public.
"The banding system needs to be withdrawn."
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