A MONTH long wait to see doctors has left a Caversham GP practice being placed into special measures by a health regulator.

The Priory Avenue Surgery has been slammed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for also failing to keep patient records up-to-date.

During an inspection on November 27 last year, the regulator found the staff have been left “demoralised and disillusioned” by a lack of clinical leadership and communication between the surgery’s directors and GPs.

The commission accepts that during its visit the practice - which looks after 8,000 people - was going through significant staff changes, but this should not have compromised patient experience.

Ruth Rankine, the commission’s deputy chief inspector of General Practice, said: “It is clear that the Priory Avenue surgery has been going through a period of upheaval - with so many staff leaving that the practice simply hasn’t been able to cope.

“There had been constant failures in communication between the current directors and GPs, leaving the practice staff demoralised and disillusioned.

“What matters most is the effect on patients. The basic process of sharing information about patient care had been severely compromised - with a backlog of letters from hospital, or reports from out of hours services which needed to be processed and acted on.

“Patients told us there had been a significant change of GPs in the last two months. One person told us they saw a different GP each time they had come in the last month.

“At times people have had to wait up to four weeks for a routine appointment with their preferred doctor.

“Patients should be able to expect high quality and consistent care from their GP practice.

“We have found significant areas of concern, which is why we are placing the practice into special measures - so opening the way to a package of support from NHS England among others.

In a statement Specialist Health Services, which has run the practice since April 2013, said it would work alongside the commission to restore its services.

It read: “The recent CQC GP Inspection has helped to highlight where we still need to put further work into improving the running and organisation of the Priory Avenue Surgery.

“We want to reassure patients that patient care remains our top priority and that we are re-doubling our efforts working with the support of NHS England, the North and West Reading CCG and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) to improve the areas of concern highlighted in the report.

“Having taken over a practice with many challenges, we have since made and continue to make good progress, including patients being seen on the same day if required.

“With the support from the RCGP our enhanced plan of action will mean we can meet the necessary improvements required by the CQC.”

The surgery will be inspected again in six months by the commission to see if improvements have been made.