A GP says he is heartbroken by an unsatisfactory CQC report and has not paid himself a salary for months in a bid to keep the surgery afloat.


 Dr Peter Swinyard, who runs the Phoenix Surgery in Toothill, says GPs are drowning in ‘paper churning exercises’.


He says he was devastated when his latest inspection from the health watchdog saw the practice given an overall ‘requires improvement’ rating. 


The GP blames a constant battle against the tides of chronic underfunding and recruitment to keep the surgery running.


The surgery received ‘requires improvement’ ratings in in the area of safety, effectiveness of services and how well-led the services are. 


Among the concerns raised by inspectors was the soft furnished chairs in reception which are deemed an infection risk, the lack of multi-disciplinary staff meetings and  the surgery’s inability to demonstrate that information governance, infection control, consent and fire safety training had been completed, something which Dr Swinyard disputes.


Dr Swinyard, who qualified in 1979 and founded the surgery in 1995, said the increased pressures of underfunding combined with a dwindling number of GPs means he is facing a daily struggle to ensure the surgery’s future and is living on his pension.


He said: “I find it incredibly hurtful that we have had this rating. It is unjust and unfair.


“If the CQC stopped slapping us down and making us feel inferior for simply doing our jobs with the chronic challenges we face then we could do our jobs as we know how to rather than it becoming a  paper-churning out exercise.


“I believe we deserved a good rating overall and I am very pleased that we got a good rating in the areas of caring and responsiveness which is what we pride ourselves on.”


The surgery was rated good in the areas of care and responsiveness with special praise given to the compassion, dignity and respect shown to patients by staff and the easily accessible advice and appointments service.


Dr Swinyard believes the rating was unjust and that Phoenix was marked down due to administrative issues rather than genuine practice failings.


He said:“It is becoming less about treating patients and more about administration which is not what GPs enter the profession to do.


“Our priority is effective care for our patients rather than endless box ticking and I feel we have been penalised very harshly for that.”


Now he  is considering leaving the practice due to the increasing pressures on the GP service.


He said:“I do not enjoy the job anymore and what it has become and things like this only push me further into wanting to retire which I believe I will do in a year. It is heartbreaking for me.”