A Kingston GP surgery with more than 5,000 patients is set to close forever after being given the worst possible rating by the health watchdog in April.

The Village Surgery in New Malden had its registration removed by the Care Quality Commission in May, meaning it’s no longer allowed to provide services.

A damning report from the watchdog found its two GP partners and a manager were not speaking to each other. 

In a letter to residents, the NHS South West London CCG announced the surgery would close permanently on August 18.

It says: “For the last few weeks another local surgery, Groves Health, has been managing the services on a caretaking basis, but we are now asking all patients to register with neighbouring GP surgeries – of which there are several.”

Another document shared with residents on the closure says: “There are several GP practices within a short distance of the Village Surgery, and the CCG has confirmed that these practices have enough capacity to register patients from the Village Surgery.

"The closure of the service has therefore been determined to be the only viable option, with patients re-registering at other local practices who will be able to offer a high quality of care.”

Inspectors carried out an unannounced inspection of the practice in February and saw staff “audibly sighing in a frustrated manner and walking away from a patient at reception who was speaking”, according to the report. 

They also found the “same problems” in all four clinical treatment rooms – including expired clinical items such as needles, wipes, testing kits and bandages along with cluttered surfaces.

Some of the items had expired in 2017.

There were hundreds of overdue medication reviews and not all emergency medicines were stocked, according to the report. 

The surgery was said to have put some patients at risk of harm, including 21 patients with heart failure who were overdue a review, 91 patients with hypertension overdue a blood pressure check and 266 patients overdue for cervical screening.

Notes found by inspectors said the front door of the practice on the South London high street had been left unlocked three times in six months.

The report added: “There was a new practice manager training at the time of this inspection, but they were not yet ready to take on full responsibility for managing the practice.”

The practice was already in special measures ahead of the February inspection after being rated “inadequate” at an inspection in September 2021.

A spokesperson for the NHS in Kingston said: “Patients registered at Village Surgery have been offered a list of well-run local practices to join after its closure on 18 August which follows an inspection by The Care Quality Commission.

“Our priority is making sure local people have access to the best quality care, which is why we arranged for Groves Health to run the Village Surgery while working to find a permanent solution.

"We are supporting patients to register with those nearby practices where there is plenty of capacity.”