A South Norwood GP has turned things around two years after being placed in special measures.

Things were looking bleak for the South Norwood Hill Medical Centre when inspectors from the Care Quality Commission came in September last year.

It had been a year-and-a-half since the practice was placed in special measures, and once again failed the inspection after it received an 'inadequate' rating.

But six months later inspectors felt it had made "significant improvements" and rated it 'good' in all areas.

Inspectors found the practice now had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen.

"When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes," the inspector wrote in their report.

"Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

"Patients found the appointment system easy to use and patients we spoke to during the inspection reported that they were able to access care when they needed it."

This was something acting deputy chief inspector of General Practice Michele Golden was pleased to see.

"It is always encouraging to see a practice work hard to improve its rating," she said.

"The move from inadequate and in special measures to good is a big step and staff at South Norwood Hill Medical Centre should be proud of what they have achieved.

“We are taking this service out of special measures.

"This recognises the significant improvements made to the quality of care provided.”

However there is always room for improvement.

The inspector said the practice should "review the results of the national GP patient survey and continue to address low scoring areas to improve patient satisfaction.

"Consider improving access for patients with hearing impairments."

But at the end of the day it was all good news as the GP was taken out of special measures.

"This recognises the significant improvements made to the quality of care provided by the service."