A surgery has been taken out of special measures following an inspection from the Care Quality Commission.

Church Lane Surgery, in Braintree, received an overall good rating in four of the five key areas, including safety, effective, caring, and well-led but was told it still requires improvement in the responsive category.

The inspection was to follow up on breaches of regulation identified at a previous inspection where the practice was rated as requires improvement overall.

But the surgery was told it requires improvement for responsive.

The report said: "Patient satisfaction regarding making and accessing appointments was below local and national averages.

"The practice had continued to take steps to improve since the last inspection, however the changes had yet to have a significant positive impact on patients being able to access care and treatment in a timely way."

The surgery was told that all population groups require improvement, including older people, family and young people, vulnerable people, people with long-term conditions and those experiencing poor mental health.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth, Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care said: "The areas where the provider should make improvements are: Improve the coding and recall of patients with a potential diabetes diagnosis, to ensure they receive the appropriate care and treatment.

"Ensure medication reviews are undertaken in a timely manner and continue to improve patient satisfaction in relation to appointments, contacting the practice by phone and overall experience.

"I am taking this service out of special measures. This recognises the significant improvements made to the quality of care provided by this service."

Since the inspection the surgery has made a number of improvments, including upgrading the telephone system and providing customer service training for key members of staff. 

A Virgin Care spokesperson for Church Lane surgery said: “This ‘Good’ rating truly reflects the passion and dedication shown by the whole team at the practice to make significant improvements over the last year despite the challenges of the pandemic and while we know there is still more to do, we’re very proud of what we’ve achieved and confident that we will continue improving.”