A doctors' surgery has been placed into special measures after health inspectors said the GP service was not safe.

The Central Surgery in Folkestone, which is run by Dr Yogesh Amin, was inspected in February.

A report published today found the surgery to be inadequate in two categories.

They were for being safe and well-led while it was also rated as requiring improvement for being effective and responsive to people's needs.

But the surgery in Cheriton Road, which has nearly 2,500 registered patients, was rated good for being caring.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) which is responsible for checking the quality of care in the country released its findings and the decision today.

Issues the inspectors found included a lack of clarity about staff responsibilities across the practice and they were not convinced it could be led effectively.

It also criticised the surgery's ability to deliver care for six specific services which were all rated inadequate:

• older people
• people with long term conditions
• families children and young people
• working age people (including recently retired and students)
• vulnerable people
• people experiencing mental health (including dementia)

The CQC said patients were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and were involved in decisions about the care.

Inspectors also noted staff treating patients with "kindness and respect" maintaining patient and information confidentiality, resulting in a good rating for care.

Ruth Rankine, deputy chief inspector of General Practice for the CQC in the south, said: "This put people using the service at risk of not receiving the high quality care, which everyone is entitled to receive from their GP practice.

"Patients were at risk of harm because systems currently in place were not embedded well enough to keep them safe. For example, infection control risk assessments were not fully carried out and recruitment checks were not completed for all staff.

"As a result of these and other areas of concern we are placing the practice into special measures, so the practice can receive the support it needs to improve."

Another inspection is now due to take place in six months to check if improvements are made and further action could be taken if it remains inadequate.

The clinical chair of the NHS South Kent Coast Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Jonathan Bryant, said: "These inspections are about ensuring that every patient receives consistently high quality services by identifying issues so improvements can be made.

"Central Surgery has indicated a commitment to making the necessary improvements set out by the CQC.

"The CCG will work to support the practice to take the action needed to make sure it has the right processes in place to support the delivery of safe, high quality care to all its patients."

Other areas highlighted by inspectors included that medicines were not adequately stored including blank prescription forms, it did not carry out improvements "in a timely manner" after risks were identified, or appeal for patient feedback proactively.

The issues about GP services in Folkestone and Hythe have been a hot topic during the general election campaign and prompted a personal pledge from health secretary Jeremy Hunt to end the GP crisis in the constituency.

It follows the announcement earlier this month that East Folkestone Family Practice would be closing its GP service in November, affecting 5,000 patients.