A GP surgery providing care for thousands of people has been ordered to “improve its patient experience” after being rated “requires improvement”.

Canvey Village Surgery, on Long Road, was previously rated “good” but an inspection on November 22 saw its rating dropped to “requires improvement”.

The report found some patients’ care needs were not always reviewed and monitored and patients with long-term conditions did not always have check ups.

The report stated: “There were not always clear and effective processes for managing risks, issues, and performance.

“We found the arrangements resulted in a lack of oversight in risk management processes that caused some patients not to receive the required reviews and monitoring.

“Some patients with long term conditions were not always reviewed in line with current legislation and standards to ensure they received appropriate care.

“Safety alerts were not consistently discussed with patients as recommended.

“There were a range of issues that required improvement around the management and oversight of people receiving treatment for some high-risk medicines and long-term conditions.”

Canvey Village Surgery delivers “general medical services” to a patient population of around 4,000.

CQC inspectors also had concerns around the results of a patient survey.

The report stated: “The percentage of respondents to the GP patient survey who responded positively to how easy it was to get through to someone at their GP practice on the phone was 20.5 per cent.

“The percentage of respondents to the GP patient survey who responded positively to the overall experience of making an appointment was 35.3 per cent.”

Despite the concerns raised, inspectors did highlight how staff had received appropriate training and treat patients with “kindness, respect and compassion”.

A spokesman for the surgery said: “’’We have worked collaboratively with the CQC, both prior to, and during their inspection and following their report.

“They were able to see that patient care is the highest priority for all staff and clinicians at the Surgery and raised no concerns in this area, giving us a ‘Good’ in the ‘Caring’ category.

“The report reflected a lot of positives, but we are committed to making all necessary adjustments and improvements recommended by CQC and will meet all their targets within the specified time frames.’’