Doctors from Castlegate and Derwent Surgery in Cockermouth are to be invited to Cumberland Council’s health overview and scrutiny committee in July 2026.
It comes after I spoke to the committee and urged them to look into the circumstances that led to the practice being placed into special measures in May 2026.
At the June meeting, I said: “The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) latest inspection of Castlegate and Derwent Surgery, rated the practice Inadequate in four out of five domains and placed it into special measures.
“And given the long history of performance concerns highlighted in local reporting and in parliamentary Early Day Motions, will this committee use its statutory powers to require the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board to attend a future meeting to explain the history of these problems, what support or interventions the ICB has already provided, and whether it has effectively used its contractual powers to address the risks identified by the CQC?
“And, also recognising the limits of the Committee’s formal powers, will you also invite the GP partners at Castlegate and Derwent Surgery and the CQC inspection team to set out their positions?”
My office has received numerous emails from residents outlining their concerns over the quality provided by the GP surgery and in the autumn of 2025 these became of sufficient volume and raised consistent themes that my team and I started an investigation.
The practice has repeatedly had issues flagged by the CQC since 2023 and the report had highlighted concerns over leadership and governance at the practice and I feel the committee can conduct a ‘useful enquiry’ into the current situation which had left residents in Cockermouth feeling so let down.
Members agreed that it should be included in July’s meeting when representatives from both the surgery, the integrated care board and the CQC inspection team would be invited to speak.