Health inspectors stopped 33 doctors and healthcare groups from working with patients last year and placed a further 29 under extra supervision, the AD reports on Monday.

This is more than double the 2012 total, the AD says. The paper bases its claims on an interview with the chief health inspector Ronnie van Diemen.

‘We now look at healthcare providers where the risks are high and we are quicker to intervene,’ he told the paper.