GP says new national ratings report has "misdiagnosed" his practice

Dr Jonathan Sleath, of Kingstone surgery, says one risk rating relating to appointments at the practice is based on flawed statistics.

Now, he's written to the CQC for an answer when the surgery can claim to be amongst the best forming in the county for patient access.

Another risk rating, on dementia diagnosis, did not account for clinical decision making,  said Dr Sleath.

"I'll be interested to know how many other practices in the county feel themselves affected like this - because the standard of GP care in this county is high.

"The CQC is surely under an obligation to check, or allow practices to check in advance of publication, that the data used is accurate," he said.

All practices in the county are assessed in the CQCs recently released monitoring report on GP practices across the country.

Kingstone was among a handful of county practices that had risk ratings in some assessment categories.

In Kingstone's case, the "risk" came in the dementia diagnosis rate - adjusted by the number of patients in residential care homes - and securing appointments - based on responses to a patient survey.

Dr Sleath said that the rating for dementia diagnosis -  shared by  other county practices - reflected clinical decisions not poor performance.

"Many doctors, have concerns about too early diagnosis of dementia and for similar reasons we will not be participating in the payment for dementia diagnosis currently being introduced," he said.

On appointments, Dr Sleath says the rating - based a zero numerator - saw the practice downgraded.

But the GP Patient Survey source used for this information recorded Kingstone as one of the two top performing practices in Herefordshire for patient access.

"Even if the data was all correct I think it is debatable what conclusions could be drawn," said Dr Sleath.

Dr Richard Dales, secretary to Herefordshire Local Medical Committee, which represents GPs, said the report overall evidenced a high standard of care across the county's practices despite ever increasing pressures.

"However, it is very important that the CQC ensure the accuracy of all data before publication and the data is used to support rather than de-stabilise the primary care system.

GP surgeries and their staff have over the last few years come under increasing regulation and scrutiny and this is important for patient safely.

"But it is also essential that the burden of red tape does not become a barrier to patient care, and the most pressing local issues such as GP waiting times and the recruitment and retention of GPs and practice nurses are addressed," he said.