NHS bosses claim progress is being made in fight to turn around failing Stuart Road GP Surgery in Pontefract

Stuart Road Surgery in Pontefract was heavily criticised and graded inadequate in a report published at the end of last month.

Inspectors said the practice kept incomplete patient records, with some missing blood test results, and a number of its procedures were “out of date”.

Wakefield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which oversees all surgeries across the district, discussed the issue at its board meeting on Tuesday.

Chief nurse Suzannah Cookson told the meeting: “We’re working very closely with the practice. There’s lots of support going in, in terms of making sure they’ve got a really robust action plan.

“They’ve got further resources going in.

“We’ve already seen some of those actions have been achieved and put in place.”

Among other criticisms made by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) of the surgery was a large backlog of correspondence which needed addressing, while staff reported low morale and high workloads.

The report, written following the inspection in March, also said that non-clinical staff had been asked to carry out tasks which required medical knowledge.

A patient participation group offering feedback on behalf of the 9,000 people who use the practice had also “not met for some time”.

Ms Cookson said that group had held one meeting since the inspection and a further one had been planned.

She added: “Lots of progress has been made.

“It’s early days, but a robust plan is in place and the practice is responding to that plan.”

The surgery is likely to be inspected again within six months to check on its progress.