A £79,000 package to support an under-fire GP surgery in Cockermouth for four weeks – but health chiefs have significant concerns about its ability to deliver improvements.
Castlegate & Derwent Surgery, based in the town’s community hospital, was told it required improvement by health watchdog the Care Quality Commission after an inspection in February 2025.
Serving just over 18,500 patients, inspectors said while it was a caring service, its leadership had no clear vision and it did not always make sure there were not enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff.
Care Quality Commission inspectors were back at the Isel Road surgery in February this year. The surgery said it was working with the watchdog following the report.
It is now under enhanced regulatory scrutiny and has to make progress in 28 days.
The NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, which commissions services, said it had provided additional clinical support at a cost of around £79,000 for four weeks and was monitoring the position closely, alongside partners.
It was a short-term intervention, it said and added: “The level of support the practice requires is not sustainable and should not be required.
“The board is continuing to maintain enhanced oversight and, in parallel, is exploring the range of contractual options to ensure safe and effective continuity of services for the local population.”
The cash has come from primary care resilience funding.
Markus Campbell-Savours, MP for Penrith & Solway has raised concerns about the surgery in the Houses of Parliament and called for partner Dr Simon Desert to step down and hand back the NHS contract.
This week, a meeting of the NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, considered a report regarding the practice.
It said its priority was the safety of the surgery’s patients.
A detailed review of prescribing and medicines management processes at the surgery has also been carried out.
The board added: “This has resulted in a programme of priority medication reviews and the deployment of additional pharmacy capacity to support implementation.
“Further work is underway with local community pharmacy providers to commission a short term emergency medicines access service to ensure timely patient access to medication.”
It was also supporting improvements to internal governance and operational processes within the surgery, it said.
The report added: “While these measures have begun to stabilise some operational pressures, significant concerns remain regarding the practice’s ability to address the full range of regulatory issues within the required timeframe.”
It added it would work closely with the practice, NHS England, the Care Quality Commission and other partners to make sure patient safety and access to services remained protected.
A spokesman for Castlegate and Derwent Surgery said: “We are working closely with the ICB, NHS England and the Care Quality Commission, and utilising the short-term package of support to help us stabilise our services and progress is being made.
“We acknowledge that this is a difficult time, but we are reassuring our patients that we are still here for you, and you should not hesitate to contact the surgery if you for your healthcare needs.”
Mr Campbell-Savours said: “The problems at Castlegate and Derwent Surgery were first flagged in 2023, again in 2024, and in 2025.
“Following these inspections, partners provided reassuring comments that improvements were coming.
“Three years later, on the cusp of another inspection report, to read that the board s propping up the partnership to the tune of £79,000 in a month, with more expense to come, shows how desperate the situation is.
“We welcome the support from the board, which must have come as a huge relief to the hard working staff at the practice, but after three years of failure to improve, isn’t it fair to question the capability of this partnership and whether it should continue?”
