Please also see more recent blog entry on CQC's lack of ethics!
Further to below I have had an arrogant email from Aaron Alder at the CQC stating they did everything correctly and the Priory deserved a jolly good pat on the back, (despite their obvious misdeeds!) It appears they are now contacting me in response to my blog entry. A letter we sent and 2 emails my partner sent were 'lost in the system'. No apology for misleading me also with inspection promises last year. Very disappointing! They also had the audacity to state ''it is our job to ensure that people who use services are provided with safe, effective and high-quality care.'' How was I safe with high-quality care if Northants police opened an adult safeguarding referral when Iles put my safety at risk or when Watt contacted me or when they broke my patient confidentiality? There must be others in the same boat. The only apology I got was for 'misunderstandings', implying I'm an idiot when I have a masters degree! It is also clear from what he said compared to the recorded phone call with a lady there last summer that I was blatantly lied to.
Aaron Alder also says he refuses to reply to me anymore! How rude does this sound as an email to a vulnerable patient or to anyone for that matter?!: ''I will not be taking further action in relation to your original enquiry, or responding to any subsequent emails or calls from you, or your husband, in relation to this matter.'' Rude much?!
You'll note from blog entries I had issues last year with The Priory Wellbeing Centre Oxford and psychiatrist Dr Andrew Iles who works there.
I was told by the GMC to call the CQC who are all about patient safety. The lady there took a 40 minute call from me last year regarding Dr Iles breaching my patient confidentiality and putting my safety at risk (so much so that the police opened an adult safeguarding referral out of concern). I also informed them of what had happened with The Priory as per my blog entry. The lady assured me that due to my call they would opened a case and 2 inspectors would go to The Priory Oxford and launch an investigation. I was told the same thing in another call a few weeks later.
I was basically lied to when I discovered that a CQC inspection of The Priory had already taken place and already finished before I'd even called! They said they added my concerns on but the Priory manager simply told them these were 'unusual circumstances' and so the CQC disregarded everything I said.
In a very biased investigation they say they spoke to 2 patients only, saw 2 out of 7 records they saw were flawed from a safety perspective but spoke to a whopping 4 doctors and a manager too and witnessed the receptionist smile politely for a brief spell before awarding them a 'GOOD' rating with basically nothing really to improve. Surely it is the 'unusual circumstances' that should be taken note of! The Priory Oxford themselves breached GDPR by accessing my medical records and storing them without consent and had to eventually delete them, the receptionist shouted at me twice and manager emailed me without permission to do so, and Iles is subject to a misconduct investigation by the GMC on 8 counts (how many doctors have the police open an adult safeguarding referral?! - on my medical records - shows how badly my safety was put at risk by Iles). Still, the CQC ignored all of this and had actually already investigated the Priory Oxford well before I ever contacted them!
It is also quite likely there are other patients in the same position as me where Dr Iles had no consent from them to share medical records (given he gave me no consent forms) with The Priory Oxford stored them without permission. The CQC ignored this when possibly other patients have had their confidentiality breached by Iles. They also didn't investigate if Iles had put any other vulnerable patient's safety at risk.
I was totally misled by the CQC about the investigation and the information I gave them and it appears they didn't investigate the Priory Oxford properly at all as my issues were disregarded.
My husband complained about why they had lied to me and this went ignored for 7 months. He then wrote a formal complaint sent in January which after 2 months the CQC said Royal Mail must have lost it. He then emailed the address he was given and apparently they didn't receive this. He emailed another address and chased up with web form and phone calls until they said they had received it but have not done anything or replied or even followed their own complaints procedure.
Am STILL waiting to hear back.
CQC all for patient safety - what a joke! https://www.cqc.org.uk/
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