A GP surgery in Kingsbury has been placed in special measures after a health watchdog uncovered a shocking catalogue of failures including a lack of infection control.

Kings Edge Medical Centre in Stag Lane, was rated as ‘inadequate’ by the Care Quality Commission following an inspection at the practice which has almost 4,500 patients on its books.

A damning report into the surgery showed:

• There were serious concerns relating to infection control, vaccines and medicines management, recruitment, staffing and dealing with emergencies.

• Patient feedback was mostly negative and they said they were not always treated with dignity and compassion.

• The appointment system was not working well.

• The practice had no clear leadership structure.

The surgery was also criticised for failing to keep updated with health guidelines and a lack of proper recruitment checks when hiring staff.

Other issues raised included the discovery of 20 blank prescription in a doctor’s bag, a clinician who was unable to identify or report notifiable safety incidents, and the practice failing to take action to address issues identified in the GP national patient survey.

One clinician told inspectors he would have to rely on other health care professionals to diagnose depression and depended on advice from a family planning clinic if a teenage girl requested contraception.

In February the surgery was forced to suspend it services for three months following a damming inspection which found no staff were able to operate the practice’s defibrillator, a clinician was unable to name the correct antibiotics to prescribe for a chest infection and there was no interpretation service available for patients who spoke no or little English.

When inspectors revisited the practice in May some improvements had been made but there were still areas of concern resulting in it being placed in special measures.

The surgery will be inspected in February next year.

If it is found inadequate again it could face further action from CQC.

Pragna Damani, manager of Kings Edge Medical Centre, told the Times the practice was one of the best in Brent and the inspection was more like a ‘tick exercise’ as the surgery is doing things right but ‘not the way the CQC wanted’.

She added: “We were doing the right procedure for our patients but our presentation was not right.

“Presentation is more important to CQC than actual patient care.”