GP surgery 'inadequate' after further decline

A GP surgery, which has spent years classed as requiring improvement, has been rated inadequate and put into special measures after further decline.

Castlegate and Derwent Surgery was given the lowest rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), following an inspection in February.

The CQC found breaches of regulation in relation to safe care and treatment, good management of the service, safeguarding, and receiving and acting on complaints.

A spokesperson for the surgery apologised to patients and said it had made "significant improvements" since the inspection, which occurred during "unprecedented winter demand and staff shortages".

In their report, inspectors said the practice, which has over 17,800 patients, "lacked a good learning culture".

It has been ranked as requiring improvement since 2023, but inspectors found previously identified problems still had not been fixed.

Linda Hirst, CQC deputy director of primary and community care in the north, said: "When a service isn't well-led, they are less likely to be able to provide good care, which is what we found here."

The report said patients were not always treated with kindness and compassion and staff did not always protect their privacy or dignity, but in turn, the service did not support staff wellbeing either.

Inspectors also found over a thousand reminders in the surgery's diary to arrange appointments - including x-rays and blood tests.

However, they said leaders had not ensured these were being dealt with in a timely way, and had no plans to clear the backlog.

Hirst said: "They observed staff raising concerns about how people were being triaged, however these were ignored by the GP partners, and no action was taken - which placed people at potential risk of harm."

They also found breaches in regulation relating to safeguarding and its complaints procedure.

The CQC has placed the service into special measures, which involves close monitoring to ensure people are safe while it makes improvements.

It also provides a structured timeframe so services understand when they need to make improvements by, and what action the CQC will take if this doesn't happen.

Castlegate and Derwent Surgery apologised to patients who could be concerned by the report.

It said the inspection took place during an "exceptionally challenging time" due to "unprecedented winter demand and staff shortages".

It said since then, it had taken on more agency GPs and created 250 weekly appointments whilst it tried to recruit more permanent staff.

A spokesperson said: "Since the inspection, we have worked hard to make significant improvements to patient access, safety and the overall service we provide.

"Whilst we recognise that there is more work to do, we are confident that the changes already made are having a positive impact."

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