Improvements made at inadequate Stuart Road Surgery in Pontefract, Care Quality Commission says

Stuart Road Surgery in Pontefract, which serves around 9,000 local people, was placed in special measures by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), following an inspection in March.

Chief among the concerns raised was the suggestion that some patients with symptoms of a long-term condition had not received the treatment they needed.

The CQC has now said many improvements have been made at the practice, following a focused inspection they conducted at the end of July.

However, the regulator says the surgery still has a backlog of 270 new patient records it has to work through.

In their latest report, published last week, inspectors said: "We saw that new processes had been put in place which ensured that patients who showed a potential diagnosis of a long-term condition had received further care and treatment appropriate to their needs."

They also said that the cleanliness of the premises had been improved since their previous visit in March and that medicines were now being managed "effectively".

However, they added: "At the time of inspection, the practice had a backlog of over 270 new patient records which needed to be summarised, and incoming non-clinical correspondence had a backlog of four weeks."

While still high, the CQC said that the number was down from 422 patient records at its previous inspection.

Wakefield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which oversees all local GP surgeries said: "Findings from the most recent visit in July showed that the practice had made the required improvements in most areas identified in the initial assessment and new processes had been put in place which ensured that patients who showed a potential diagnosis of a long-term condition had received further care and treatment appropriate to their needs.

"The practice is committed to continue to improve and has already made significant progress in a short period of time."

The CCG added that, alongside NHS England, it was working with the practice to ensure "they can deliver services to patients that meet appropriate standards now and in the future".

Local Democracy Reporting Service