A medical practice with two surgeries has been ordered to make improvements after it was inspected by a health watchdog.

East Norwich Medical Practice, which runs services for more than 16,000 people at surgeries in St Williams Way, Thorpe St Andrew, and Aslake Close, Sprowston, was rated as 'requires improvement' by the Care Quality Commission following its inspection in August.

Inspectors found the practice had good facilities and was well-equipped to treat patients and meet their needs, but there were question marks over the safety, efficiency, and leadership of the organisation.

According to the report, reviews and investigations were not thorough enough after events where things had gone wrong and the risk of infection was not managed consistently.

There was also no evidence that staff had received up-to-date training which was considered mandatory and appropriate to their roles.

Inspectors found no evidence that staff who chaperoned patients around the building had been given a disclosure or DBS check, which identifies whether a person has a criminal record or is on a list where they are banned from working with vulnerable children or adults.

Staff files did not always contain references, qualifications, photographic evidence, and registration with the relevant professional body.

In addition there was limited evidence of appraisals and personal development plans for the staff.

Inspectors said in their report: 'Staff did not always feel supported by management' and 'There were very limited systems in place to monitor and improve quality and identify risk.'

However the practice was rated as 'good' for its services being caring and responsive to people's needs.

And inspectors found one area of 'outstanding practice', in relation to helping patients who found it hard to use or access the services.

This was illustrated by one of the GPs taking a special interest in providing proactive care to the homeless, patients with drug addictions, and asylum-seekers.

And the practice had multi-lingual staff who, combined, could speak a total of seven languages including Arabic, German, Afrikaans, and Spanish.

Sixty per cent of patients surveyed at the practice said they would recommend the surgeries to other people, against a national average of 78pc.

The practice did not respond to the Evening News's request for comments.

Do you have a health story? Email nicholas.carding@archant.co.uk