A MEDICAL centre has been criticised after inspectors found its emergency medicines were out of date.

Oswald Medical Centre, in Oswaldtwistle, has been told it 'requires improvement' downgraded from a good rating after the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found it was 'unsafe' and 'ill-led'.

The Union Road practice said they welcomed the feedback from the CQC and have addressed the areas highlighted during the inspection.

Professor Steve Field, chief inspector of general practice, said in the report: "We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on Tuesday, April 12.

"Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses.

"However, the level of detail within associated records maintained by the practice was insufficient to demonstrate communication and learning from incidents was effective.

"There was evidence of risk management activity within the practice.

"However, risk management activity was not comprehensively completed."

A previous inspection at the centre carried out in October 2013 found that the centre met the standards of the routine inspection.

However, at their routine inspection this year, concerns were raised over fire and security risk assessments, patient outcomes, performance issues and following policies and procedures.

Government watchdog officials found that policies and procedures were not always followed and water checks to reduce the risk of legionella bacteria were not carried out regularly.

The practice had not applied processes and systems for the management of medicines consistently or effectively, the report said.

Catherine Brazendale, practice manager at Oswald Medical Centre, said: "At the end of the inspection, the practice team received verbal high level feedback from the CQC Inspector.

"The feedback highlighted that the practice had passed the inspection, and highlighted areas of improvement the practice must and should take to improve.

"The feedback was welcomed by the practice and any areas highlighted on the day of inspection have now all been addressed.

"The practice would like to assure patients that we are committed to providing a high level of care and this has recently been reflected in the practice surveys and patient feedback.

"The practice has a committed and hardworking team who are very proud to state that we achieved the RCGP Practice Quality Award in October of 2015 following and inspection from a team at the Royal College of General Practitioners.

"This award was a culmination of teamwork over a three-year period by every member of the practice team."

Recommendations made in the report also included ensuring that equipment is safe, that records are detailed, and that staff follow practice policies.