UK based Zimbabwean land-grab Dr resigns over 'chaotic' surgery

A UK-BASED Zimbabwean doctor at the centre of a land-grabbing row has back home resigned as a practising GP after his practice was put into special measures

Dr Sylvester Nyatsuro resigned on Wednesday, the day before a damning inspection report on his surgery, the Willows Medical Centre, in Carlton, was published.

The highly critical report made by the Care Quality Commission unearthed a catalogue of failures including that an unregistered healthcare assistant staff at the practice was referred to as "doctor" and undertook diagnoses and assessments of patients.

This member of staff recorded almost 900 clinical events at the practice and undertook a number of duties which were "outside of the scope and competency of a healthcare assistant".

Organisation of staff at the practice was described as "chaotic" and employees said there was a culture of fear and blame with staff being reprimanded or shouted at by management.

The report also found there was not enough staff to keep patients safe, with medication reviews undertaken by non-clinical staff. There was evidence which demonstrated that tasks which should have been done by a nurse were being routinely done by staff who did not have appropriate training.

Data from the national GP survey revealed that just over half of patient said they would recommend the practice to someone new to the area.

The watchdog's report branded the surgery 'inadequate' overall, with individual ratings of 'inadequate' for its safety, management, effectiveness, and responsiveness. Its level of care was rated as "requires improvement".

The practice, which was closed earlier this year, is expected to remain closed while NHS works with the local clinical commissioning group to decide its future.

It has been at the centre of protests over the past year after Dr Nyatsuro was accused of seizing land from Zimbabwean tobacco farmers.

Dr Nyatsuro said the land lawfully belonged to him and his wife, Veronica, and rejected allegations that he has taken it as part of president Robert Mugabe's controversial redistribution scheme.

Dr James Hopkinson, clinical lead for NHS Nottingham North and East Clinical Commissioning Group said: "We are shocked by the CQC's findings and we are sorry that the patients served by the Willows Medical Centre have been let down in this way. As commissioners, we also feel let down by this practice.

"What has happened is an unacceptable breach of trust and the standards of care we expect for our patients. We want to reassure patients that this is highly unusual and is not representative of the standards upheld by the overwhelming majority of our GPs and practice staff.

"Our CCG is responsible for planning effective and safe levels of care for around 150,000 people served by 21 GP practices. We are extremely grateful for the support of four other practices in the immediate area which have stepped in to make sure that the majority of the 3,600 patients registered at the Willows continue to receive the ongoing care they need."

The CCG confirmed that it and NHS England "had received a formal resignation from Dr Nyatsuro in relation to his GP contract".

Janet Williamson, deputy chief inspector of general practice and dentistry in CQC's central region, said: "Staff confirmed they felt there were not enough staff and told us that requests for additional staff had been refused.

"The practice had no clear leadership structure, insufficient leadership capacity and limited formal governance arrangements. The provider did not have arrangements in place to ensure safe, high quality care was provided to patients and had knowingly employed a healthcare assistant to undertake medical examinations which were outside the scope of the role and for which the individual was not registered or regulated.

"There was a culture of fear and blame within the practice and we were not assured that all significant events were reported and used as opportunities toimprove safety within the practice.

"CQC is continuing to work closely with Nottingham North and East Clinical Commissioning Group and NHS England to ensure all patients of the surgery have continued access to alternative GP services in the area.

"We will continue to monitor this practice closely alongside partner agencies to check whether sustainable improvements have been made.

"If insufficient improvements have been made such that there remains a rating of inadequate for any population group, key question or overall, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating the service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration if they do not improve."

The details of Dr Nyatsuro's resignation have not been disclosed. Dr Nyatsuro was unavailable for comment.