WHISTLEBLOWERS have criticised healthcare bodies for not doing more to help a failing GP practice.

Sacked staff at Shanti Medical Centre say action should have been taken sooner to save the practice and to protect their jobs after a GMC investigation and two 'inadequate' ratings by the CQC were followed by the GP partnership being dissolved this week. The Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has stepped in to ensure there is GP cover.

Beverley Booth, receptionist, Nanji Asani, office manager and Parveen Bhatia, receptionist, were devastated to lose their jobs after they raised concerns with the General Medical Council about Dr Shaista Hanif whose GP partnership with Dr Anant Prasad was dissolved by the High Court last week.

Mrs Booth said: "We were really proud of working there we were all happy like a little family. It is a shame that the practice has not been allowed to continue with the staff."

The GMC named the whistleblowers to Dr Hanif when they presented her with their concerns and the three were sacked in November, 2016.

Mr Asani said: "They didn't protect us. The GMC sent her the bundles."

Allegations included breaches of patient confidentiality, while others made complaints about Dr Hanif refusing to visit elderly patients and her failure to record consultations.

With the help of UNISON the trio brought and won their employment tribunal case with a £150,000 payout.

A year later, in November, 2017, the CQC rated the practice inadequate. It was placed into special measures to be inspected again in six months with the threat of cancelling the practice's registration.

In March this year it was inspected again and "insufficient improvements" had been made and a further "inadequate" ranking was made.

Prior to the dismissal of staff, the surgery had been rated good by the CQC (December, 2014).

All three CQC reports show failings in all areas including the leadership of the practice.

Mr Asani said: "They are saying 'patient care [is important]' but when it comes to that they're not bothered. The CQC visited three times, twice it was rated inadequate and it was still running."

The GMC closed the case without action against Dr Hanif, stating that the allegations had been made against the "backdrop of an acrimonious partnership dispute between Dr Hanif and Dr (Anant) Prasad" which led to a "difficult working environment for the staff which has undoubtedly served to fuel the many complaints made by the staff against Dr Hanif".

A spokesman for the GMC said: "If we receive a complaint about a doctor that we need to investigate it is standard practice for the GMC to ask for consent from the complainant to use their personal details.

"In cases where consent is refused, we will make a decision as to whether it is necessary and proportionate to use the complainant's personal details, without their consent, to enable us to investigate the matter properly and fulfil our statutory duty to protect patients."

Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is responsible for managing the contract held with Shanti Medical Centre for general medical service.

A spokesman said: "In any contractual agreement where there are areas of a contract not being delivered effectively, the CCG can take steps which include serving a breach notice with clear timescales for improvement.

"For example, when patients reported the practice was not opening on time, this led to a contractual breach notice from the CCG and regular checks that this situation was not repeated.

"The CCG had served several contractual breach notices on this Practice with timescales for improvement. Further contractual implications can result from taking these steps, such as termination of a contract. The CCG had not reached the latter stage with Shanti Medical Centre.

"The CQC reviews the quality of general practices and other NHS Providers. Any quality concerns raised by the CQC lead to a formal requirement for an action plan and failure to respond to quality concerns can lead to the removal of the licence to operate.

"The Practice has been offered support from multiple sources, including the CCG, the Local Medical Committee and, following the CQC ‘inadequate’ rating, from the Royal College of General Practitioners.

"On the specific issue of staff being dismissed from the practice, employment decisions are the responsibility of the Practice itself.

"Upon being notified that staff from the practice had been dismissed with a link to whistleblowing, CCG staff immediately advised reinstating the staff.

"When this advice was not followed, the Chief Officer of the CCG, Su Long, met with the two GP partners to express the serious implications of taking such action.

"She believes that the affected staff, who subsequently sought an employment tribunal, took the most appropriate course of action available to them.

"The CCG would like to stress that our priority remains to ensure the ongoing continuity of safe care to the 6,000 patients registered at the Shanti Medical Centre."

The CQC has been approached for a comment.