AN outspoken GP said he is “disappointed and upset” after his surgery was ordered to improve.

The Care Quality Commission raised serious concerns about safety at the Southbourne Grove surgery, in Westcliff, following an inspection in March.

Inspectors found there were limited systems in place for assessing risks including those associated with high-risk medicines, fridge temperature monitoring for vaccines, equipment and infection control.

The report, published this week, reads: “The practice had fire extinguishers and fire notices were displayed. However, there was no fire safety risk assessment and there was no fire alarm system in the practice.”

Dr Krisha Chaturvedi, from the surgery, previously told the Echo he believed “box ticking” visits by the Care Quality Commission eat up time which could be better spent caring for patients.

He claimed small surgeries with fewer administrative staff were being hit the worst.

When asked about the recent report, Dr Chaturvedi said: “I am very disappointed and extremely upset they would publish the report after we wrote to them.

“We wrote to the CQC and they apologised for the delay of the report and then published it without our permission.

“We did not agree to the report being published until the inspectors had revisited the practice, which they agreed to do, but didn’t.

“We only had one inadequacy, which was the fire safety risk, and it was sorted within a month of inspection.

“Secondly, we were visited by a local inspector and that is unacceptable. The inspector should not be local because they could be prejudiced in some way or have read previous articles in the newspaper that have been written about the surgery.”

Despite rating the surgery as requiring improvement, the report found patients were satisfied with their care and treatment.

A commission spokesman said: “Patients said they were treated with dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment. They said that staff were helpful, polite and courteous.

“They said that they received a personalised service and that staff were empathetic and caring.”

On NHS Choices, a website where patients can leave feedback, the practice, which provides services for 3,319 patients, has received the highest rating of five stars, based on 27 ratings.