The Care Quality Commission (CQC) published its report on Cranleigh Gardens Medical Centre on September 30 following an assessment carried out in July.
The practice was rated requires improvement overall, with its safe and well-led categories downgraded from good. Effective, caring and responsive services remained rated good.
The CQC said the service “did not always detect and control potential risks in the care environment” and found that actions identified through health and safety risk assessments were not always completed or recorded. It has asked the provider to submit an action plan addressing the concerns.
Among the issues highlighted was a Legionella risk assessment at the practice’s Westonzoyland branch surgery, which identified hot-water temperatures below recommended levels.
Inspectors said they did not see evidence that an urgent recommendation to increase the thermostats had been completed at the time of the assessment.
A separate fire risk assessment at the branch site identified 32 actions to improve fire safety, including four classed as high severity.
Concerns included final exit doors requiring keys to open, overloaded plug sockets and trailing electrical leads. The service told inspectors that remedial works have been booked to address the issues.
The CQC report also noted that inspectors reviewed four staff files and found none contained all required pre-employment checks. The report identified gaps in mandatory training records and vaccination documentation, while governance processes were found to be inconsistent.
During the inspection, the CQC also found unsecured blank prescription stationery in multiple rooms, boxes of blank prescription forms stored in unlocked cupboards and a printed prescription containing a patient’s personal information left on a printer.
CQC find high patient satisfaction and caring staff
Despite the concerns, inspectors said patients were largely positive about their experiences.
The report noted that “people were positive about the quality of their care and treatment” and that staff treated patients with “kindness, empathy and compassion”.
The CQC also highlighted results from the 2026 National GP Patient Survey, in which 86 per cent of respondents reported a good overall experience of the practice, while 90 per cent said their needs were met during their last appointment.
GP practice reassure patients on protective improvements
Responding to the findings, a spokesperson for Cranleigh Gardens Medical Centre said: “We welcome the recommendations made by the CQC and would like to reassure our patients that we have already taken proactive steps to address the issues identified during the inspection.
“We are committed to providing high-quality care in a safe and supportive environment for all our patients.”
The practice said that any patients with concerns can get in contact via email, adding: “We will continue to work with the CQC to ensure improvements are made.”
The CQC said the practice had taken action on some issues following the inspection, although some actions remained outstanding and newly introduced processes would need time to become embedded.