A Chapel House GPs' practice has been told to improve after the Care Quality Commission flagged issues such as not acting on safety alerts and not helping patients to "access care and treatment in a timely way".
The Parkway Medical Practice, based at the Chapel House Medical Centre, has been rated "requires improvement" by the CQC.
The watchdog sent inspectors in after receiving complaints from patients at the practice - including from Lucy Walker whose dad John McNulty died in January 2021.
Go here for the latest NHS news and breaking North East public health news
John, 78, died after contracting cancer throughout his body - but just months earlier the GP's practice had told him he only had a "frozen shoulder".
Others are understood to have complained to the CQC too. An inspection on December 3 found the practice was "good" when it came to being caring, but "requires improvement" in the other four areas considered - being safe, effective, responsive and well-led.
In the report, inspectors wrote: "The practice had a significant shortage in staff, including GPs, which impacted on its ability to provide safe care. This included staff who were self-isolating due to the Covid-19 pandemic and those that had left the service.
"We found evidence that some issues affecting patients had not been actioned following safety alerts. We found evidence of missed diagnoses of some patients with chronic kidney disease."
Additionally, the CQC found that though patients "mainly" received effective care, there was a backlog of patients waiting to be reviewed and in some cases there was "no action plan in place to address this".
It also said that the practice had received "numerous complaints" about a lack of appointments, that staff morale was low, and that "patients struggled to access care and treatment in a timely way".
However the CQC recognised that in response to this the practice had overhauled its appointment system in December.
In Mr McNulty's case, his daughter Lucy said they had been "trying and trying to get him seen by a GP" as pain in his shoulder worsened and he also struggled with symptoms such as wheezing and worsening pain in his shoulder.
After first going to his GP with issues in August 2020, a blood test showed an abnormality, but no further action was taken.
He had telephone appointments with nurse practitioners in October and November that year, and a face-to-face appointment with a nurse that led to a physio referral.
But with his pain worsening, he and his family continued to seek a face-to-face appointment with a GP. He was eventually seen again by a GP on December 18.
Blood samples were taken and John was booked in for chest scans which led the GP to confirm on December 21 that he had a lump on his shoulder blade, and inflammation and problems with kidney function.
On December 23 he was rushed into hospital and diagnosed with cancer - and he died on January 12.
Reacting to the CQC report, Lucy said: "I had had my suspicions that dad wasn't an isolated case. It's something that will hopefully make them improve their systems.
"I feel a little further forward with the fact that their failings are now being monitored by CQC and that we were right in thinking they were not providing safe care."
Lucy is continuing to attempt to resolve her own complaints with the practice.
A practice spokesperson said: "CQC has shared their inspection report with us and we’ve developed an action plan to address the concerns raised. Since the inspection, we have successfully recruited a nurse practitioner and another GP.
"We are confident this will help to improve the availability of appointments. We encourage patients to contact us with any feedback they may have. However, we are unable to comment on individual concerns because of our duty of patient confidentiality."
