The doctor at the heart of a whistleblowing probe has admitted a delay in dealing with some paperwork could have impacted on a “small number of patients”.

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

It came after concerns were raised about how the practice was run and the management of patient records.

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

However, 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.

Dr Huckstep said: “In terms of patient care being compromised, a delay in reading some letters could have had a negative effect on a small number of patients.

“It should be stressed that these people were already under the care of a consultant.

“I have never had a complaint about a misdiagnosis, or ever been sued. In fact, I have been criticised for over investigating and over referring.”

He has so far decided not to return to work as a doctor.

The Wolvercote Surgery and Kendall Crescent Health Centre was set to feature on last night’s Channel Four Dispatches documentary Can You Trust Your Doctor?

And it was expected to feature claims from two ‘whistleblowers’ Nurse Loo Blackburn and locum GP Dr Christine Slowther, who raised concerns about record keeping.

Nurse Blackburn joined the surgery in June 2010, after the practice manager – described by Dr Huckstep as the “captain of the ship” – left for a role in the private sector.

Locum GP Dr Slowther joined the surgery in August and later said: “The first two days at the practice were absolutely petrifying, shocking.”

In an interview with the Oxford Mail yesterday, Dr Huckstep, who has worked in Oxford since 1997, admitted overstretching himself.

He said he had taken on responsibility for five nursing homes and refused to turn away drug and alcohol addicts from other areas in the city.

The GP said he told officials from NHS Oxfordshire he had become “overworked and exhausted” after losing a key member of staff from his team in April 2010.

Dr Huckstep said: “I took on the workload because I was requested to by those who needed a doctor and I felt that I could back fill in the practice by using registered assistants.

“I felt that our team could carry the workload.

“Sadly, in summer 2010 we got to a position where the workload became unmanageable and that is deeply regrettable.

“I am happy to apologise to any patients that were affected by this. It was a great privilege to serve this group of patients over the years.”

NHS Oxfordshire last night denied Dr Huckstep had informed them of problems.

It pointed out how it had referred Dr Huckstep to the National Clinical Assessment Service (NCAS) in 2009 with concerns about “poor record keeping and poor administrative systems”.

A spokesman said: “At the time the PCT gave support to the practice to put more robust systems in place to deal with record keeping and the administrative systems.”

Yesterday we revealed the PCT first heard of concerns about Dr Huckstep’s workload in 2003 – the same year he took on responsibility for the Wolvercote surgery and 1,000 extra patients.

The trust said: “The PCT did not offer Dr Huckstep his job back or any other role. It is accurate to say that the PCT considered removing Dr Huckstep’s suspension from the Medical Performers list as long as he complied with strict conditions.

“These conditions can most simply be described as going through a re-training programme with clinical supervision at all times when seeing patients and academic support from a university.

“Dr Huckstep chose not to comply with these restrictions and instead offered to resign from the Medical Performers List.”