A DAMNING report of Burnham Surgery has been released by a health watchdog plunging the surgery into special measures.

The report, by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), found that the overall quality of service provided by the surgery was ‘Inadequate’, the lowest rating on the organisations scale.

As a result of being placed in special measures, a follow up survey will be carried out by the CQC in six months.

If the surgery is found not to have improved enforcement actions could be taken to stop the surgery from remaining open.

Burnham Surgery serves approximately 9,300 patients.

Of the five main areas assessed, the report, published on May 19, finds that the safety, effectiveness and quality of leadership of the surgery are ‘Inadequate’.

The quality of caring and responsiveness to people’s needs were found to ‘Require Improvement’.

The comprehensive inspection, carried out by the CQC on March 31, also looked into the quality of service being provided to six population groups.

These six groups comprised of the elderly, people with long term conditions, families and children, working age people, people whose circumstances make them vulnerable, and people experiencing poor mental health.

The quality of care given to all six of the population groups was found to be ‘Inadequate’ by the CQC’s Chief Inspector of General Practice, Professor Steve Field.

Professor Field said that patients at the surgery could be put in danger: “Patients were at risk of harm because systems and processes were not in place to keep them safe.

“Risks in relation to health and safety, fire, legionella and infection control had either not been undertaken or managed effectively.”

Concerns were also expressed about the confidentiality of the surgery and the processes regarding the giving of consent.

“Consent was not being sought appropriately,” said Professor Field. “Non-clinical staff were gaining consent from patients without providing sufficient information.

“Confidentiality in the reception area could not be ensured, conversations could be overheard and there were no measures in place to minimise this risk.

“We were told by patients we spoke with of difficulties in getting an appointment with a named GP and data showed patients regularly waited more than 15 minutes after their appointment time.”

A spokesperson for Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), the group in charge of primary care, said: “We, along with the Burnham Surgery, are disappointed with the outcome of the recent CQC report.

“The surgery has worked hard on plans to make improvements and the CCG, along with NHS England, are supporting these plans and we will review their progress.”

Caron Tozer, Burnham Sugery Practice Manager, said: "The surgery were obviously very disappointed with the report from the original inspection on the 31 March.

"The surgery has since had an unannounced inspection from the CQC where it was recognised that the doctors and staff had done a tremendous amount of work in a short period of time to address the concerns that were raised."