Gosport's Brockhurst Medical Centre closed over 'risk of harm' concerns

Brockhurst Medical Centre had been due to close at the end of the year

A GP surgery that had been told it required improvement has been shut down after an inspection found patients could be at "risk of harm".

Hampshire's Brockhurst Medical Centre had already been due to close on 31 December.

However, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) suspended its registration with "immediate effect" following an unannounced inspection on Monday.

Patients are expected to be transferred to other practices on Saturday.

Fareham and Gosport Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said the two partners at the practice had previously taken the "difficult decision" to stop delivering GP services and it was already due to close at the end of the year.

'Urgent action'

The group said it had already consulted with its 6,000 patients about which local practices they would prefer to be transferred to.

The CCG said its "immediate priority" was to ensure all patients registered at Brockhurst Medical Centre had "ongoing access" to GP services.

It said all patient records, including prescription information, would be "securely transferred" to the new practices.

In September, a CQC assessment of the practice, on Brockhurst Road in Gosport, rated it overall as "requires improvement".

The issues highlighted in the report included that the practice "did not have systems for the appropriate and safe use of medicines" and "there was a risk that some patients were not receiving the care and treatment they needed".

Following Monday's inspection, Garry Higgins, of the CQC, said it had taken "urgent action" to suspend the registration of the GP surgery.

"We took the action because we believe if we didn't people using the service may be exposed to the risk of harm," he added.

"The provider has the right to appeal and further information will be published by CQC when we are able to do so."