HEALTH chiefs responsible for Ealing’s Urgent Care Centre (UCC) were called to account at a council scrutiny meeting this week.

Ealing Council called the meeting with private company Care UK after an ITV undercover documentary revealed alarming practices on the shop floor of the UCC, based at Ealing Hospital.

Concerned residents, many of them members of activist group Ealing Save Our NHS, attended the health and adult social services scrutiny panel held at the town hall on Wednesday.

They demanded answers but may have to wait another month for the findings of an independent review.

Dr Asim Hasan, London medical director of Care UK, told councillors and residents that the programme, filmed within a week, did not reflect the reality on the shop floor and was the result of “very carefully edited programming.”

The documentary in July alleged that untrained staff delivered clinical care, patients were asked to self-observe, medicine stock levels were depleted and frontline staff were manipulating targets.

An independent review by Ealing's Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) was ordered to ascertain if these alleged incidents were isolated, or indicators of a systemic problem rooted in an unfavourable working culture.

It is also to review the commissioning arrangement between the CCG, the body responsible for the UCC contract, and Care UK.

Tessa Sandell, acting managing director of Ealing CCG, revealed that no red flags have been raised as yet but that they anticipate suggestions to be made once the review is finalised.

She added no evidence of target manipulation had been found so far, saying she was “as confident as can be that staff are not manipulating targets”.

Suzanne Lawrence, managing director of Primary Care, admitted learning had been taken from the programme and that Care UK had since reviewed the frequency and minimum reorder levels of medicines, which had not been keeping pace with increasing patient demand.

Despite reassurances from Care UK and the CCG that appropriate action was being taken, members of the public remained doubtful of their promises being delivered.

Hanwell resident Eric Leach said: “It shouldn’t be the CCG that commissions the report - they’re marking their own homework.”

He was outraged by Suzanne Lawrence’s suggestion that if patients were not largely pleased with the level of service the UCC was providing, they would “take themselves to an alternative UCC such as Brent”, a 25 minute drive away from the Ealing centre.

He and many other residents are anxiously awaiting the full report from the independent review, expected in the next four weeks.

Tessa Sandell confirmed the CCG is “more than happy” to bring it to the forum to go through the recommendations and share how the CCG and Care UK plan to move forward.