A town centre GP surgery has been placed in special measures after inspectors for the Care Quality Commission found that Lever Chambers 2, run by Dr Yogesh Loomba, on Ashburner Street was providing an inadequate service, which included failing to ensure the proper and safe management of medicines.

The practice is a team of two GPs and the practice has a branch surgery at Great Lever Health Centre in Rupert Street. Both sites were visited during the inspection.

The inspection found the service's safety, effectiveness and leadership were ranked ‘inadequate’ but it the surgery was good for caring and responded to patients needs.

The report stated: “Patients prescribed high risk medicines did not always receive the required monitoring or follow up.

“Medication reviews were not always documented and not all relevant Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) alerts had been sufficiently actioned.”

The inspection also found that the surgery ‘failed to ensure that there were sufficient, competent, skilled and experienced persons deployed to meet requirements’.

This included not enough reception staff to carry out administration duties in addition to their reception work.

The report stated: “The lead GP had not had an appraisal with the CCG for three years and there was no evidence of a peer appraisal recorded.”

And that the practice did not follow its own recruitment policy for example, the practice manager and other staff were employed without any form of application, interview notes and pre-employment checks such as a current DBS check -or risk assessment for decision not to check- or references.

The report stated: “Photocopies of DBS checks from other providers were used in place of applying for a current check.

“The provider had failed to ensure that all clinicians were registered with the relevant professional body.”

And it added that staff were being recruited without any recruitment procedures in place.

No fire or health and safety risk assessments were carried out.

There was no evidence of clinical audits or quality improvement work carried out and no plan in place to start this.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth, chief inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care, said in her report that the pratice will be placed in special measures.

She said: "We have rated this practice as Inadequate overall."

An NHS Bolton CCG spokesperson said: “We are working with the practice on meeting the requirements of an improvement plan, following the CQC inspection.”