I WAS sad to read in SNJ (July 26) that Locking Hill Surgery has been rated poorly by the Care and Quality Commission, despite that fact they recognised practice staff went the extra mile for patients and their relatives, and staff treated patients with kindness and respect.

In the same paper you also reported the national annual GP patient survey found that confidence and trust in GPs at Locking Hill Surgery was rated at 100 per cent, a ranking shared with only two other surgeries in Gloucestershire.

As patients at Locking Hill Surgery for over 25 years, our experience bears this out.

Practice staff have looked after us well all this time, and we have chosen to stay with the practice as this continuity of care is something we value.

On closer reading of the CQC report, I note that the weaknesses highlighted were: lack of fire training, recruitment checks, gaps in policy and procedures.

Surely staff commitment and professional competence should be considered a higher priority than these bureaucratic weaknesses that can soon be sorted out?

John and Fiona Meadley

King’s Stanley