A GP surgery which was ordered to improve over safety fears is celebrating turning its fortunes around.

The Oaklands GP practice, which is based in the Canvey Primary Care Centre, in Long Road, was handed a requires improvement notice back in April.

The Care Quality Commission criticised the surgery, which has more than 10,400 patients on its books, for failing to store vaccines correctly.

Staff have spent the past seven months working to turn the failing practice around.

Their efforts have been praised by inspectors - who have now rated Oaklands as good in all areas.

Practice manager, Emma Stock, said: “We underwent an inspection earlier this year and although we got an overall rating of good, we fell short in the safety domain.

“The commission have since reassessed us and we have now scored good in each of the five domains.

“This is fantastic news for Oaklands Surgery as we have worked tirelessly to improve the services in the practice and we are particularly proud considering some of the recent outcomes with neighbouring practices.”

Dr Maya Mistry, one of five GPs based at the surgery, added: “I would like to thank our staff and our patients who have helped us achieve this rating. It could only be achieved through teamwork.

“We strive to provide high quality services and are glad the regulators have recognised our systems, processes and desire to provide patient focused care.”

In a fresh report, Professor Steve Field, chief inspector of General Practice at the Care Quality Commission, said: “They had revised and replaced temperature recording devices to mitigate the risk of inaccurate fridge temperature readings.

“Their electronic temperature monitoring equipment was regularly downloaded to confirm adherence to their cold chain storage requirements.”

He added: “In April we proposed the practice should continue to monitor patient feedback and survey data to ensure that the improvements that have been made are being reviewed and maintained.

“They had recruited additional clinical staff, two nurses and a full time salaried GP. “They had improved their responsiveness to patients during peak times with all available staff answering calls. The practice were also monitoring patient wait times.”

In the initial report, which was published in May, the surgery was praised for providing effective and caring services, for responding well to patient’s needs and for having good leadership.