An Essex doctor’s surgery has been told it needs to improve after inspectors found its only defibrillator was not working and there was no oxygen on site.

Sydenham House in Harlow has been rated ‘requires improvement’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after its latest inspection, which found gaps in equipment used to deal with medical emergencies.

The inspection report, published on June 22, said the incidents were “minor” and unlikely to be repeated.

Stellar Healthcare, which runs the service, said in a statement the defibrillator and the oxygen are now in working order.

Inspectors found the defibrillator had not been checked and when tested its battery pack did not work. According to the report there was no replacement battery pack on site.

Staff also told inspectors oxygen had been removed from the service during the coronavirus pandemic, and according to the report this decision had not been risk assessed.

A spokesperson for Stellar Healthcare said in a statement: “Stellar Healthcare sub-contracts premises at Sydenham House to deliver Ophthalmology, Rheumatology and Orthopaedic community services. Following the recent inspection, the CQC rated the organisation as Good in three areas including being an effective, caring and responsive organisation but felt we required improvement in the way services are led and the delivery of safe services. 

“On the day of the CQC visit, the defibrillator light came on to say that battery was low and we took immediate action by ordering a new battery and spare pack. We also were made aware of the missing oxygen tank and ensured this was also delivered within the same week. Both the defibrillator and the oxygen are now in working order, in situ. As mentioned in the report, and due to the level of services delivered, these issues were raised as minor as the chances of incidents re-occurring is low.

“While some of the findings in the report are disappointing, we believe it provides us with an opportunity to address the learnings, as we reset the organisation with our new clinically-led board and prepare for the future.”

According to the report, oxygen is required as a minimum at medical services to support Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in primary care settings.

The report also said safeguarding systems and training at Sydenham House needed to be strengthened, and that the service did not always carry out the required staff checks when recruiting.

Inspectors could not find evidence Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, which check to see if a person has a criminal record or is on a list of people barred from working in roles involving contact with children or adults, had been completed for one member of staff, according to the report.

Staff provided assurances DBS checks had been completed after the inspection and put an action plan in place to ensure future checks were carried out in line with the local DBS policy.

The service received a “good” rating in all areas other than the categories of “safe” and “well-led”, meaning it received an overall rating of “requires improvement”.

Stellar Healthcare provides regulated activities at six other sites throughout Essex, but these were not visited as part of this inspection.