THE provider of a private general practice has been ordered to pay almost £13,000 after it admitted it had run its service illegally.

Tudor Medical Matters Ltd, which operates a surgery in Rawtenstall, was fined £8,000 at Blackpool Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday November 18.

The company was also ordered to pay £4,962.55 costs as a result of the prosecution brought by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

At a previous hearing, Tudor Medical Matters pleaded guilty to providing regulated activities, including diagnostic screening and treatment, without CQC registration.

A spokesman for the medical watchdog said: “This is a criminal offence under section 10 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

“The prosecution was brought after CQC inspectors visited Tudor Medical Matters’ premises on 24 October 2018, prompted by concerns raised by a pharmacist about a potentially inappropriate dose of medication prescribed by a GP at the practice.

“At that time, a GP surgery was not registered at this location.”

Inspectors found price lists for services and patient records showing that the company was offering numerous regulated activities – including consultations, blood tests and scan referrals.

In an interview with inspectors, a representative of Tudor Medical Matters admitted providing regulated activities without registration since early 2017.

Following the CQC’s intervention, Tudor Medical Matters applied for registration. However, the company continued to break the law by providing regulated services before its application was approved on 17 October 2019.

Joyce Frederick, CQC’s deputy chief inspector of registration, said: “It is unacceptable that Tudor Medical Matters broke the law and risked people’s safety by operating without the benefit of CQC registration, so I welcome its guilty plea in this case.

“The registration process vets services before they care for patients. Services are then monitored and inspected to ensure that they continue to meet standards that people should be able to expect.

“Unregistered services operate without oversight, putting people at risk of harm.

“When we find providers operating illegally, we do not hesitate to act to protect people.”

At its time of opening in 2017, Tudor Medical Matters was the first private medical provider to open in Rawtenstall.

In an article published shortly after the practice opened, bosses at the centre confirmed that all services would be operated in compliance with the CQC and within the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

Attempts were made to contact the practice for comment.