Derby GP surgery warned after being rated inadequate by inspectors

The surgery has apologised and said an improvement plan was underway

A Derby GP surgery has been threatened with closure after it was rated inadequate by inspectors.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said the Osmaston Surgery, in Osmaston Road, was unable to keep people safe after it assessed the practice in June.

The surgery has been placed in special measures and will continue to be monitored by the CQC.

Managers have apologised and said an improvement plan was underway to address the watchdog's concerns.

The CQC's inspection report found "the practice did not ensure care and treatment was provided in a safe way to patients" and "the service was not provided in a way to care and respond to patients' needs".

The regulator has issued the practice with an "urgent notice of decision to impose conditions on the provider's registration".

It said: "The service will be kept under review and if needed could be escalated to urgent enforcement action.

"Where necessary, another inspection will be conducted within a further six months, and if there is not enough improvement we will move to close the service by adopting our proposal to remove this location."

'Significant changes'

Inspectors said they found the surgery's systems and processes were "ineffective" in the management of medicines, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

They reviewed patient appointments and concluded the practice "did not have sufficient capacity to deal with levels of demand".

Training records also indicated that some staff "had not completed infection and prevention and control training".

Patients being prescribed high-risk medicines "were not always being monitored in line with guidance", the CQC said, and it found some patients were overdue for blood pressure monitoring or blood test reviews.

In a statement, the surgery said:  "We are sorry that over the past few years we have not been able to provide services to the high standard patients rightly expect, which is reflected in CQC inspection reports.

"We have put in place an improvement plan since taking over in May and we have worked continually to deliver on that during and since the inspection took place in June. We have already made significant changes since taking over."