Closing - The Spalding GP Surgery.

Improvement needed at closing GP surgery?

A Spalding GP surgery set to close later this year is still requiring improvement, according to a recent CQC report.

The Spalding Surgery, based at the town’s Johnson Hospital, is still not meeting a statutory regulation on good governance, says a report published last week.

The surgery was originally opened as a replacement for Spalding’s Pennygate Surgery which closed in 2018.

Lincolnshire Community Health Trust acted as a caretaker and was registered from September 2019 as a GP practice.

But a full report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) earlier this year said that it was in need of improvement after its first inspection.

Only one of five key areas was rated as ‘good’ by the inspector while everything else needed improvement.

But last month it was announced that the hospital-based surgery will close when the contract expires at the end of next month.

The newly-formed NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board, previously known as the Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said the 3,000 patients will be automatically transferred elsewhere.

The original Pennygate Surgery was rated as inadequate and put into special measures by the CQC.

At the time, opening a surgery in a dedicated area at the Johnson Hospital was a temporary measure.

The latest inspection in June related to staff training and recruitment and care for patients with long-term conditions.

It said leaders weren’t ‘always visible’ and low staffing was an issue.

“The provider must establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care,” the report says.

Leave a Reply