HATHERLEIGH Medical Centre has been told it needs to improve in some key areas in its latest Care Quality Commission report.

The report published last Thursday has rated the centre as requiring improvement.

In the safety and leadership categories the practice was rated as requiring improvement, but in the effectiveness, caring and responsiveness categories the centre was rated as good.

Dr Francis Fernandez, lead GP at the practice, said that an action plan had been put in place to make the improvements listed in the report and build on the good work already going on in the centre.

He said: ‘The inspection came at a time when we were in transition, taking over from Dr Downie who had run the practice single handedly for 20 to 30 years. That transition is not easy. In a big practice with more GPs running things it is easier to manage a retirement. In a small practice it is hard.

‘It was a difficult time for the surgery but we are happy with parts of the report. We have had a positive reaction from users and only two complaints over the last year. Considering everything, I am happy with the number of positive things said. We now have our action plan and a clarity of what we need to do to improve things for the future.’

In their summary on the safety rating, inspectors said: ‘Staff understood their responsibilities to raise concerns and to report incidents and near misses.

‘However when things went wrong, reviews and investigations were not thorough enough and lessons learned were not communicated widely enough to support improvement.

‘Although risks to patients who used services were assessed, the systems and processes to address these risks were not implemented well enough to ensure patients were kept safe.’

The report also stated that as it was transferring ownership at the time of the inspection, not all staff were sure who to approach with issues.

Despite the overall rating, the report also had many positive things to say about the practice.

In their summary inspectors said: ‘Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.

‘We observed a patient centred culture. Staff were motivated and inspired to offer kind and compassionate care and worked to overcome obstacles to achieve this.’

The centre was highly praised for its regular outreach programme at Hatherleigh Market, offering blood pressure checks and health advice to farmers and other patients who find it hard to get to the practice.