There has been much speculation and confusion surrounding the reason why a much-loved Coulsdon GP is set to close.

Last month the Coulsdon Medical Practice reportedly started telling patients that it would be closing in the near future.

But for a practice which served nearly 4000 patients in the community to so abruptly close had many questioning why, including Coulsdon West councillors Luke Clancy and Mario Creatura, as well as Ian Parker, who is running to be a councillor for Coulsdon West.

The trio penned a letter to the CEO of the Care Quality Commission, Sir David Behan, which asked for a reason behind the decision.

“We write as representatives of the Coulsdon West ward of the London borough of Croydon to register our strong objections to the closure of the above medical practice in our ward," the letter said.

"Our residents have benefited from the excellent service provided at the centre for many years and we fail to understand why the practice is to close when the demand for services in the area is increasing.

“Locally, we are seeing the development of the Cane Hill site, which when completed will bring over 600 houses and many more residents to the area, all requiring the services of local doctors. Now is the time for health provision in the area to expand not contract.

“We believe there are over 3,500 patients registered at the practice. How do they go about registering with another GP?

“We would appreciate your justification for the closure together with some explanation as to how the health provision will be increased elsewhere to cover the closure of the practice and to meet the ever growing demand locally.”

Mr Creatura said they have received no reply to the letter as yet.

But a Care Quality Commission (CQC) report published today (April 18) identified possible reason behind the closure.

The was rated 'inadequate' for being safe, effective and well-led, but received a 'good' rating for being caring and responsive, following an inspection in February.

This followed inspection in 2016 and 2017 where the GP was first rated overall as inadequate and placed in special measures, before showing improvement and garnering a rating of 'requires improvement'.

But it seemed the GP slipped back into bad habits.

An inspector said of the most recent check-up that governance arrangements had deteriorated and did not ensure safe care for patients as there was a lack of oversight and that previous improvements had not been sustained.

The report also said that the practice did not have a clear system in place to monitor patients on high risk medicines, monitoring of refrigerator temperatures on a daily basis and uncollected prescriptions.

Acting deputy chief inspector of General Practice, Michele Golden, felt this was a big let down by the practice.

"It is very disappointing when a practice that has shown signs of improvement, as this one did, begins to slip again," she said.

"This practice is once again in special measures and we must consider what we need to do to ensure patients at Coulsdon Medical Practice get the high quality care to which they are entitled.”