The Village Surgery threatened with closure after CQC criticism

The Village Surgery was inspected by the CQC in March

A GP surgery in Derbyshire has been threatened with closure after the UK's health watchdog rated care at the service as "inadequate".

The Village Surgery in South Normanton was put into special measures in January following an inspection.

Improvements have since been made but the Care and Quality Commission (CQC) said not enough had been done.

Surgery bosses said they realised "challenges remain" as they worked to improve standards.

CQC inspectors visited the service on April 4 and ranked the care and leadership as inadequate.

The watchdog's report said the effectiveness of the practice requires improvement but the care and responsiveness was good.

It warned the surgery could be forced to close, or have its licence altered, if it does not improve over the next six months.

The CQC said it wanted to see improvements in:

• Diagnostic and screening procedures

• Family planning services

• Maternity and midwifery services

• Surgical procedures

• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury

The report concluded: "Insufficient improvements have been made such that there remains a rating of inadequate for The Village Surgery.

"Therefore we are taking 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 within six months if they do not improve."

Despite this, the report also listed a number of positives for the surgery saying staff "treated patients with kindness, respect and compassion".

Safety 'paramount'

A spokesperson for the surgery said: "The partners and staff at The Village Surgery welcome the feedback from the Care Quality Commission about how we can continue to improve the way we deliver care to our patients.

"The team has put in a significant amount of work over the past months to introduce more robust and effective processes, but we also recognise that challenges remain.

"We can assure patients that their safety is of paramount importance to us and that we will continue to build upon the improvements introduced since the previous inspection.

"More work is under way and we are clear on how we are aiming to meet the highest possible standards of care."

'Challenges despite improvement'

A spokesperson for NHS Derby and Derbyshire Clinical Commissioning Group said: "The new report provides a clear direction for the practice to continue to improve care for its patients, and CCG staff have been working closely with the practice team to achieve this.

"Improvements have already been made in a number of areas, but we also recognise that challenges remain.

"We will continue to work with the team at The Village Surgery, building upon the improvements introduced since the previous inspection. We are committed to helping the practice meet the highest possible standards of care."