Mattishall and Lenwade Surgeries rated inadequate by CQC

Mattishall and Lenwade Surgeries, near Dereham, has been rated inadequate in all areas of a recent inspection carried out by the Care Quality Commission.

The inspectors highlighted a range of issues at the surgery.

These included:

• Several patients not receiving follow-ups, including one patient with an abnormal blood test dating January 2021
• An "inconsistent" approach to medicine management
• An "ineffective" system for identifying potential missed diabetes diagnoses
• Patients with long-term conditions not always being offered annual reviews
• Not all staff had received safeguarding checks before interacting with vulnerable patients

But its bosses say inspectors failed to take into account the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic when making their assessments.

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A spokesperson said: "The partners at staff at Mattishall and Lenwade Surgeries are very disappointed with the results of the recent CQC inspection.

"This was a focused inspection that considered areas of safety, effectiveness and leadership at the surgery.

"Although the CQC acknowledges the difficulties facing general practice, the report was unable to take into account the ongoing challenges following the Covid pandemic and the difficulties regarding staff recruitment and retention - as well as the difficulties we are having with our ageing premises which urgently require replacement.

"The last few years have been challenging for all general practice and our priority has been to focus on delivering good patient care and improving access to healthcare.

"We recognise that these priorities have been to the detriment of some other areas, mainly focussed on administration, and we will work hard to improve these areas while maintaining excellent standards of clinical care."

The report reads: "The practice did not have a system to learn and make improvements when things went wrong."