A GP surgery rated inadequate by a care watchdog is adding a new building to its premises to expand the range of care it provides its patients.

Bosses at Mocketts Wood Surgery in Broadstairs have been given the green light by council planners to create an additional space where they can operate existing treatments to improve health and wellbeing.

The plan is to provide care and support to patients through a range of activities, including social talks from local organisations, offering specific health groups and running coffee mornings from a new timber building at the site in Hopeville Avenue.

In a planning statement, the GP surgery says the scheme, know as social prescribing, is a huge part of the future of the NHS.

"The framework allows GP practices to refer into or work with community based organisations including charities whereby they can operate alongside existing treatments to improve health and wellbeing," a Mocketts Wood spokesman said.

"The new outbuilding will play a vital part, enabling the practice to provide a hub for their own patients, whereby then can receive help and support within the community by coming to coffee mornings, small social talks hosted by local organisations, meetings etc.

"It will also be used for teaching and training staff from time to time should there be a need. However, the use is predominantly for our patients.

"We do not envisage a use necessarily on a weekly basis and events and meetings will be by invitation only to a very small cohort of patients at any one time.

"This means the outbuilding will not be open to the public or our patients for general use."

Last year the surgery was placed in special measures after being rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission.

Inspectors warned the surgery could be closed if improvements are not made after they found a catalogue of failings, including not having appropriate equipment and medicines for an emergency, and not conducting appropriate checks on staff before appointing them.

One finding was that the practice had not appropriately assessed, scoped, trained and supervised members of the clinical team to ensure they were operating safely and effectively

But patients rallied round to defend the practice and a petition to take the surgery out of special measures received almost 2,000 signatures.

The team at Mocketts Wood said they were extremely disappointed with the outcome of the inspection and have already made changes in a bid to improve.

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