A medical centre has been warned it will face closure if it does not improve patient care.

Harrow Civic Medical Centre, in Bethecar Road, has been rated Inadequate overall after a Care Quality Commission inspection in January 2017.

The practice, which looks after 4320 people in the area, has now been recommended to be placed in special measures to help it improve.

It must ensure care and treatment are provided in a safe way, as well as prove that staff regularly receive training and that “adequate” arrangements are in place to respond effectively in emergencies.

Ursula Gallagher, the deputy chief inspector of general practice at the CQC, said it will take six months to determine whether the practice has made some improvement.

If there are no changes, the centre will be closed.

She said: “We are placing the Civic Medical Centre into special measures. Services placed in special measures will be inspected again within six months.

“The service will be kept under review and if needed could be escalated to urgent enforcement action. Where necessary, another inspection will be conducted within a further six months, and if there is not enough improvement we will move to close the service by adopting our proposal to remove this location or cancel the provider’s registration. Special measures will give people who use the service the reassurance that the care they get should improve.

“We are pleased that patients we spoke to on the day and feedback from comment cards showed that patients found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.”

Patients who are registered with the practice will be offered a package of support by NHS England and the Royal College of GPs to ensure there are no immediate risks their safety while improvements are being made.

The Civic Medical Centre has been contacted for a comment.