A family doctor’s surgery has been placed in ‘special measures’ after England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice deemed it “inadequate.”

Dr Hafiz Rehman’s Thornton Lodge Surgery got a damning rating following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission, (CQC) in February.

The commission carried out the inspection in January to follow up issues around safe care that had been identified at an earlier inspection in December 2015.

During the inspection a number of new concerns were identified and CQC inspectors returned to complete a comprehensive inspection of the practice in February.

The practice was rated as Inadequate for being safe, effective and well-led, but Good for caring and responsive. Overall the practice was rated as Inadequate.

Alison Holbourn, deputy chief inspector of general practice at CQC, said: “We found that people registered with Dr Hafiz Rehman are not getting the high quality care which everyone should expect to receive from their GP.

“When we last visited for a routine follow up inspection in January, we found fresh concerns which prompted us to carry out a full comprehensive inspection.

“This practice had previously been rated as Good overall, but requiring improvement for providing safe services, but we found a lack of progress on improvements we had asked them to make, and were concerned about people using this service.

Thornton Lodge Surgery which has been deemed "inadequate" by Care Quality Commission

“There were no health and safety assessments on the physical environment of the surgery, one clinician did not have the right insurance for the sessions they undertook, and investigations into incidents were not thorough with lessons learnt not being communicated widely enough to improve safety.

“We have told the practice where they must improve and are placing them into special measures to ensure that action will be taken to improve the quality of care for patients.”

The report is a serious blow for Dr Rehman who has been told the service will be kept under review and if necessary “could be escalated to urgent enforcement action.”

Dr Rehman said the GHCCG and NHS England has done follow up visits to check all aspects of care and confirmed that “we had made significant changes since CQC visit.”

He said: “We are small family practice with a deprived and challenging population. We do our best to provide high quality of care which NHS patients are required. The issues raised by CQC has been addressed.”

He said that in terms of the issues raised during CQC inspection, all health and safety assessments have been completed including a full electrical check of surgery which was required every five years and had expired.

He said oxygen had been bought for emergency use, all clinicians have now got up to date indemnity cover which has been checked and confirmed by GHCCG and the practice has got clear protocols in place to monitor significant events.

He added that all practice polices and guidelines have been reviewed and updated and all staff now have mandatory training to provide safe and effective care.

Jan Giles, head of practice support and development for NHS Greater Huddersfield Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “Following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission we have been made aware that Thornton Lodge Surgery in Huddersfield has been placed into ‘special measures.’

“The practice is working with the CCG to make the necessary improvements for patients and has already taken steps to address the areas where action is required.”