The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Dr Rana Chowdhury

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Oak Lodge, 6 Oak Road, Harold Wood, Romford, Essex, RM3 0PT (01708) 342139

Provided and run by:
Dr Rana Chowdhury

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

We carried out an announced assessment at Dr Rana Chowdhury, Oak Lodge, 6 Oak Road, Harold Wood, Romford RM3 0PT. We carried out remote clinical searches of the patient’s records, on the 15 and 16 January 2026 and we visited the practice on the 27 January, and 2 February.

The practice is registered for the regulated activities, diagnostic and screening procedures, family planning, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury for approximately 4,717 patients.

CQC carried out this assessment to follow up the breaches of regulations 17 (Good Governance) found at our previous assessment carried out between 21 March and 10 April 2025. This assessment has reviewed the key questions safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.

Safe

The provider and leaders had responded to the previous assessments findings in March 2025 and had made improvements to the systems for significant events, safeguarding, referrals, storage of prescriptions. However, some systems were still not fully effectively embedded to ensure the consistent provision of safe care. For example, oversight of staff training and immunisations and medicines optimisation.

Effective:

The practice had responded to the previous assessment findings in March 2025, as the systems for assessing needs, delivering evidenced based guidelines and the management of patient long term health conditions had improved.

Caring

Peoples feedback demonstrated they were treated with respect. Staff supported individual preferences and helped people have a choice in their care. Privacy was protected, and staff wellbeing was actively supported.

Responsive

Although patients were mostly satisfied with the access to appointments, the practice had yet to fully embed the access to online appointments process and improve the information on their website and further work was required to ensure they fully met the needs of their community.

Well led

At the previous assessment in March 2025, we found the leadership of the practice had not made all the necessary improvements or embedded the governance changes. At this assessment we have found improvements in governance, new systems have been implemented and embedded for referrals, significant events and safeguarding. However, some systems were still not effectively embedded, such as oversight of staff training and immunisations, the practice website, access to online appointments and the involvement in innovative projects

Following the improvements made by the practice they have been removed from special measures.

We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.

During an assessment under our new approach

We carried out an announced assessment at Dr Rana Chowdhury, Oak Lodge, 6 Oak Road, Harold Wood, Romford, RM3 0PT. On the 21, 24 and 25 March 2025 we carried out remote clinical searches of the patient’s records, and on the 26 March and 10 April 2025 we carried out visits to the practice.

The practice is registered for the regulated activities, diagnostic and screening procedures, family planning, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury for approximately 4,717 patients.

We carried out this assessment to follow up the breaches of regulations 12 (Safe care and treatment). This assessment has reviewed the key questions safe, effective and well led, and the quality statement equity in access from the key question responsive.

During the assessment we found: -

Safe

The practice had responded to the previous assessment and put in place an action plan. However, systems for significant events, safeguarding, referrals, safe staffing, storage of prescriptions, risk management, medicines optimisation and storage were either not fully effective or embedded.

Effective

The practice had responded to the previous assessment and put in place an action plan, however the systems for assessing needs, delivering evidenced based guidelines and the management of patient long term health conditions remained either not fully effective or embedded.

Responsive

Although patients were mostly satisfied with the access to appointments, the practice had yet to fully implement the access to online appointments. In addition, there was no guidance for reception staff to follow regarding the triage of patients to the appropriate appointments.

Well led

Following the previous assessment in August 2024 the provider had undertaken training and external peer review and implemented an action plan to enable them to improve their capabilities as a leader. However, this assessment found that the leadership of the practice had not made all the necessary improvements or embedded the governance changes. This meant that the leadership of the practice could not demonstrate their capability to deliver consistently high-quality care and treatment. Examples of the systems which were not fully effective were referrals, significant events, safeguarding, staff training, supervision, workflow, prescriptions storage, prescribing of antibiotics, and the recall of patients for long-term health conditions.

We have found breaches of regulation 17 good governance. We have asked the provider to make improvements to the concerns found at this assessment.

The service will remain in special measures. Services placed in special measures will be inspected again within six months. If insufficient improvements have been made such that there remains a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedure to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating the service.

During an assessment under our new approach

We carried out an announced assessment at Dr Rana Chowdhury Oak Lodge, 6 Oak Road, Harold Wood, Romford on the 7 and 12 August 2024. We carried out this assessment because we had not inspected the practice since 2017 and the concerns that were raised with CQC regarding the practice. The assessment reviewed 4 quality statements from the key questions safe and effective. The quality statements reviewed were safe and effective staffing, medicines optimisation, assessing needs and delivering evidence-based care and treatment.

During the assessment we found: -

The review of patient records found the records did not always facilitate continuity of care and allow another clinician to take over the care of the patient. Some did not include sufficient information to understand the patient’s assessment and management of the patient’s condition, and this may have impacted on a patient’s health. We did not find assurances that medicines were being consistently prescribed safely. At the time of the assessment, the practice did not have fully effective systems in place to ensure safe recruitment and staff competency.

We are placing this service in special measures.

18 October 2017

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Rana Chowdhury on 11 January 2017. The overall rating for the practice was inadequate and the practice was placed in special measures for a period of six months. The full comprehensive report on the January 2017 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Dr Rana Chowdhury on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was undertaken following the period of special measures and was an announced comprehensive inspection on 18 October 2017. Overall the practice is now rated as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

  • Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. The practice learnt from significant events.
  • There was no child safeguarding policy in place despite external contact details being available. However since the inspection, the practice has provided evidence of a new child safeguarding policy that has been implemented.
  • Improvements had been made to the governance of the practice which had impacted on patient outcomes.
  • Risks to patients who use the services were well managed.
  • Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect, and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
  • Staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on. The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.
  • Staff had knowledge of the practice vision and there was a business plan to support this vision and the practice strategy.

However, there were also areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

The provider should:

  • To continue review how patients with caring responsibilities are identified and recorded on the patient record system to ensure information, advice and support is made available to all.

I am taking this service out of special measures. This recognises the significant improvements made to the quality of care provided by the service.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

11th January 2017

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Rana Chowdhury on 11 January 2017. Overall the practice is rated as inadequate.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

  • Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. However, reviews, investigations and learning was not always effective.
  • Although risks to patients who used services were assessed, the systems and processes to address these risks were not in all instances implemented well enough to ensure patients were kept safe, specifically in relation to mandatory training, fire drills, portable appliance testing (PAT) and implementing recommendations from a recent legionella risk assessment.
  • Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect, and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.

  • Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.

  • Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.

  • Staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on. The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

  • The practice had a number of policies and procedures to govern activity, but there was no evidence to confirm that staff were following them.
  • The practice did not have a mission statement and their staff had no knowledge of the practice vision.
  • The practice did not have a business plan and had no strategy for the future.
  • The governance arrangements at the practice were not effective.
  • Not all staff were able to fully utilise clinical computer systems

The areas where the provider must make improvements are:

  • Put a system in place to ensure mandatory training, in particular fire safety, safeguarding and infection control, is up-to-date.

  • Establish risk assessments and procedures for the monitoring of high risk medicines, actions identified in the recent Legionella risk assessment must be acted on.

  • Improve the monitoring of patients on high risk medicines.

  • Investigate safety incidents thoroughly and ensure that the procedures are adhered to and there are effective reporting systems in place.

  • Establish a system for disseminating and acting upon national patient safety alerts to ensure staff are aware of the process.Review what emergency drugs are kept and the system for ensuring they are fit for purpose.

In addition the provider should:

  • Develop an ongoing programme of clinical audit and re-audit to ensure outcomes for patients are maintained and improved.

  • Establish a system to monitor prescriptions that had not been collected.

  • Review how patients with caring responsibilities are identified and record them on the clinical system to ensure information, advice and support is available to them.

  • Ensure staff have the capability to utilise clinical computer systems.

On the basis of the ratings given to this practice at this inspection I am placing the provider into special measures. This will be for a period of six months. We will inspect the practice again in six months to consider whether sufficient improvements have been made. If we find that the provider is still providing inadequate care we will take steps to cancel its registration with CQC.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

19 September 2013

During a routine inspection

People who used the service understood the care and treatment choices available to them. We saw that staff dealt with people in a polite and friendly way. People told us that the doctor was good at explaining different types of treatment options. One person told us, 'the doctor is brilliant, he will listen to me and then explain things'.

We found that care and treatment was planned and delivered in a way that was intended to ensure people's safety and welfare. Care plans we looked at were person centred and were developed around individual needs. People we spoke with were positive about the surgery. One person told us, 'I don't think that they could really improve, I am more than happy'. Another person said, 'the doctor is very good'.

People who used the service were protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening. People told us that they felt safe at the surgery and felt comfortable with reporting any concerns they had to staff.

There were effective recruitment and selection processes in place. Prospective staff were interviewed by the GP to ensure that they had the suitable skills and experience for the particular role. We saw that the practice carried out employment checks to verify qualifications, references and identity.

People who used the service, their representatives and staff were asked for their views about their care and treatment and they were acted on. We saw that learning from incidents, complaints and investigations took place and appropriate changes were implemented. We examined a number of recent 'significant events' that had been recorded by the practice. We spoke to the practice manager about one of them. They explained what had happened and how the surgery had changed its practice to prevent the same situation arising in the future.