HEALTH chiefs last night said they were confident they did everything they could to monitor North Oxford GP Mark Huckstep ahead of his suspension.

It comes as Dr Huckstep’s patients spoke of a decent man with a ‘lovely bedside manner’.

The father of four featured in Monday night’s Channel Four Dispatches documentary Can You Trust Your Doctor?

The show featured claims from two whistleblowers that the GP had serious issues with recordkeeping and paperwork.

Dr Huckstep was suspended from his practice at Wolvercote Surgery and Kendall Crescent Health Centre, in North Oxford, in August 2010.

But in Monday’s Oxford Mail we revealed concerns had first been raised about Dr Huckstep to the county’s health authority, NHS Oxfordshire, seven years previously, in 2003.

Last night Dr Richard Green, NHS Oxfordshire’s clinical governance lead, confirmed the trust had stepped in to monitor what was happening at the practice three times – once in 2003, in 2006 and in 2009.

Each time Dr Green said the GP had met all that was required of him and the trust was happy with how it handled the issues raised.

He said: “I think we managed the situation in each step of the way appropriately.

“It’s always possible to look back and feel one might have done something different.

“But I feel that we did everything that could reasonably be expected in the situation.”

The programme also claimed the doctor, from Headington, had left 300 abnormal blood test results ‘unactioned’, something Dr Huckstep has denied.

Instead he said the problem was down to an IT system error making it look as if the blood tests had not been looked at.

Last night patients registered at the Wolvercote practice said they were shocked their ‘pleasant’ GP had featured on the show.

One mother, who did not wish to be named, said: “I have always had a very good experience with him.

“While I understand you cannot speak for everyone, I never had any complaints.”

A 68-year-old woman from the village added: “I didn’t see the programme, but as far as I was aware there were never any problems with my records. He had a lovely bedside manner.”

Wolvercote councillor Jean Fooks said she did not wish to comment on the specifics of the programme or the allegations against Dr Huckstep.

But she added: “The main concern for us was that the Wolvercote surgery continued to have a GP.

“It’s been a difficult time for everybody and it has taken a long time to get sorted but thankfully we now do.”

The General Medical Council (GMC) launched an investigation and Dr Huckstep was not allowed to practice in Oxfordshire.

In yesterday’s Oxford Mail we revealed the county’s primary care trust NHS Oxfordshire has since written to the GP and said he could return to work under strict conditions, which included undertaking a retraining programme.

He has decided not to continue as a GP and last night said he was taking legal advice about the content of the programme.