A South West London GP surgery could shut forever after being rated 'inadequate' twice by a watchdog despite an earlier petition signed by more than 1,000 people to save it. NHS South West London has revealed proposals to close Trinity Medical Centre in Balham, which had around 8,100 patients at the time of its most recent inspection last year.

Trinity Medical Centre was placed under special measures in February 2022 by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The practice has been managed by Tudor Lodge Health Centre as a temporary solution since September 2022 but the contract is due to end on June 30 this year.

NHS South West London has now revealed it is proposing to close the practice and ask patients to register with another local surgery, with extra measures in place to help the most vulnerable patients re-register. Balham residents attended a drop-in event on April 27 to find out more about the plans and give their views ahead of a final decision being made.

It comes after damning reports from the CQC which saw the surgery rated "inadequate" twice. The most recent inspection in June and July 2022 found multiple breaches of regulations and similar concerns to the inspectors' last visit in October 2021.

The latest report, published in August 2022, said there was a staffing crisis at the surgery, with staff telling inspectors the work was too stressful and they had to work long hours due to shortages on a weekly basis. Patients raised concerns about GP appointment times, getting through to the surgery on the phone and the types of appointments they were offered.

Inspectors heard staff being "rude" to patients over the phone, according to the report, with one worker repeatedly telling a patient to stop talking as they needed to get on with their work. One patient said reception staff could be very loud and shout out confidential information and got annoyed if patients asked too many questions.

Inspectors also saw an email from management to staff which blamed them for the previous inspection findings and told them their jobs were at stake due to their comments to the CQC and alleged failings. They were told they could be fired within four weeks.

Ahead of the CQC report being published, a Change.org petition was launched to "save" the surgery and gained 1,095 signatures. The petition said it had been "hit by the Covid pandemic like a tsunami" and was "in the middle of a big management and staff changeover" at the time of the inspection.

If the surgery closed, the petition said: "So many people, young and old, will struggle to find a new doctor. They will have to start from scratch instead of having a doctor who knows them and their medical history inside out."

A spokesperson for NHS South West London said: "Trinity Medical Centre was rated 'inadequate' twice by the health care regulator the Care and Quality Commission (CQC) and deemed unable to provide safe and effective care – since then we have arranged for another practice to temporarily manage the day to day running of services.

"We are now proposing to close the practice and ask patients to re-register nearby – there are 10 practices within a one-mile radius and an additional 21 practices within two miles. We are continuing our conversations with surrounding GP practices about their capacity and the additional funding they would receive for any new patients who register.

"Thank you to everyone who attended our drop-in session to share their views, we will be carefully considering everyone's feedback. Anyone unable to attend the session is still able to contact us, visit our website for more information." Trinity Medical Centre was contacted but did not comment before publication.