Canvey Island GP surgery loses licence appeal
A GP surgery which lost its licence after an investigation revealed a series of failings has lost its bid to have the decision overturned.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said the Grafton Surgery in Canvey Island failed to properly monitor patients.
Inspectors also found it had inadequate procedures in place to follow up cervical cancer smear test results.
Their concerns were so serious the surgery's registration was cancelled by a magistrate in June.
Appealing against the decision before the Care Standards Tribunal, the surgery's registered manager, Dr Saia Noorah, argued it was unnecessary.
Although she admitted the surgery, which served 6,200 patients, faced serious problems, she said it should have been given two months' grace to make necessary improvements.
Dr Noorah disputed some of the allegations, including that the surgery had a bullying and blame culture.
Among other failings, the CQC said there were inadequate procedures in place to follow up cervical cancer smear test patients.
Patient satisfaction was "below average", there was no system for reporting accidents at work and staff were unable to locate a first aid kit.
Judge Meleri Tudur confirmed the "urgent cancellation" of the surgery's registration to carry out regulated activities.
The failings admitted by Dr Noorah were by themselves enough to cause "serious risk to patients' life, health or well-being", she said.
The judge concluded there was no clear action plan to bring the surgery up to scratch and that, given the number of patients put at risk, cancellation was necessary.
The CQC said it was working to ensure the surgery's patients had access to "alternative GP services".
Castle Point and Rochford Clinical Commissioning Group says the surgery remains open under caretaker management.