Cockermouth’s Castlegate and Derwent surgery has been placed into special measures.
Health watchdog the Care Quality Commission visited the practice, based in the town’s community hospital, in February and published its report today.
Inspectors found that there were breaches of regulation of safe care and treatment, good management of the service, safeguarding and acting on complaints.
Over 1,000 reminders to arrange appointments were found in the surgery’s diary, including blood tests, scans and X-rays.
Inspectors said the backlog was not being dealt with in a timely way and there were no plans in place to clear it.
They added that patients were not always treated with kindness and compassion and staff did not always protect their privacy or dignity.
It also did not support staff wellbeing.
Linda Hirst, CQC deputy director of primary and community care in the north, said: “They observed staff raising concerns about how people were being triaged, however these were ignored by the GP partners, and no action was taken – which placed people at potential risk of harm.
“We were disappointed to see a deterioration in the quality of care being provided to people.
“When a service isn’t well-led, they are less likely to be able to provide good care, which is what we found here.”
The surgery had last rated as requiring improvement since 2023 by the commission. Inspectors said issues raised at previous visits had not been resolved.
It has placed the surgery in special measures, which means the Care Quality Commission will monitor it closely.
The surgery has apologised to patients and said when the inspection took place, it was an exceptionally challenging time.
He said: “Today’s news is devastating but unsurprising.
“Many patients will read this and recognise that the inconvenience and poor service they’ve experienced is part of a bigger picture.
“Sadly, for some constituents the situation is far more tragic. Some will now be questioning whether the problems at this practice have impacted the diagnosis of major health conditions, with families asking whether poor service contributed to the early death of loved ones.
“This is not isolated, it follows repeated warnings since 2023, including two CQC inspection reports, a formal warning notice, and a coroner’s report highlighting serious failings.
“This begs the question, why have these issues been allowed to persist and deteriorate to this point?
“How can NHS commissioners sign contracts with independent contractors, which is what GP practices are, while lacking effective powers to intervene decisively when they fail to deliver quality services and patient safety?
“I have engaged with the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board on these difficult questions, and I know they have worked closely with the practice to support it over the last few months.
“I will now raise the CQC report with ministers in Department for Health and Social Care to establish what more can be done.
“Patients in our area deserve better, and they deserve answers.”
