A GP has likened the scale of mismanagement at a surgery in special measures to a “coach crash”.
Castlegate and Derwent GP Surgery, in Cockermouth, was rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following an inspection in February.
Dr Simon Desert admitted there had been a “serious failure of governance” with an “inward-looking and adversarial” culture, but he hoped to get it “back on the road”.
Speaking at Cumberland Council’s health overview and scrutiny committee on Thursday, he said a police financial malpractice investigation remained ongoing.
Inspectors said they found breaches of regulations for safe care and treatment, with more than 1,000 reminders to arrange appointments discovered in the surgery’s diary.
Desert told committee members: “This has been a coach crash.”
He said the surgery had faced hardship since a move into a new building, while alleged financial misconduct identified in 2023 was “reflecting a wider breakdown in probity and governance”.