The private sector provider of out of hours GP services Harmoni will be inspected by the health and social care watchdog for England within the next two months, amid claims that some shifts at hospitals across north London were so understaffed that the care provided was unsafe.

A spokesman for the Care and Quality Commission (CQC), which regulates all health and social care services in England, said that services provided by Harmoni would have to be inspected within a year of registering. As it was registered on 25 February 2012, inspections are imminent.

The out of hours service in north London has been severely criticised by doctors in the Guardian newspaper. …