Background to this inspection
Updated
18 December 2019
Litchdon Medical Centre is a dispensing practice located in Barnstaple, North Devon. The practice is part of NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The practice had taken on the care of an additional two thousand patients since our previous inspection in 2015, as a nearby practice had closed.
The provider is registered to provide the following regulated activities:
Maternity and midwifery services
Diagnostic and screening procedures
Treatment of disease, disorder or injury
Surgical procedures
The practice provides care to approximately 15,600 patients living in North Devon. The practice is based in an area of average levels of deprivation (6 out of 10, with 10 being the lowest deprivation). A total of 22% of the practice population are aged above 65 years. This is higher than the national average of 17%. The practice supported these patients through management of frailty, falls reduction and reducing unplanned admissions. Less than 2.5% of the practice population have an ethnic minority background.
There is a team of 11 GP partners, one salaried and two GP retainers, six male and eight female. The team were supported by a practice manager, 10 practice nurses and three health care assistants /phlebotomists (staff who take blood). The clinical team are supported by additional reception, secretarial and administration staff.
The practice is open between 8.30am to 6pm Monday to Friday. Appointments are available between 8.30am and 5.30pm. Extended hours appointments are offered Monday morning from 8am and Wednesday and Thursday evenings until 8pm. The practice also participated additional appointments as part of the North Devon Improved Access rota. The practice provided a dispensary service for patients who lived more than 1.5 miles from the nearest pharmacy.
The practice has opted out of providing out of hours services to their patients. Patients are advised to contact the out of hours services via the NHS 111 service.
We inspected the sole location run by this provider at:
Landkey Road
Barnstaple
Devon
EX32 9LL
Updated
18 December 2019
We carried out an announced focused inspection at Litchdon Medical Centre on 5 November 2019 as part of our inspection programme.
We carried out an inspection of this service following our annual review of the information available to us including information provided by the practice. Our review indicated that there may have been a significant change to the quality of care provided since the last inspection. This inspection focused on the following key questions: Effective and Well Led.
Because of the assurance received from our review of information we carried forward the ratings for the following key questions from our previous inspection in 2015: Safe (Good), Caring (Good) and Responsive (Outstanding). We have rated the practice as Outstanding overall.
The provider has a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:
- what we found when we inspected
- information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services
- information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.
We have rated this practice as good for providing effective services because;
- Proactively working on pilot schemes in North Devon improve care at local care and nursing homes
- Outcomes for patients were consistently better than expected when compared with similar services, as shown in the quality outcomes framework (QOF) achievements of the practice.
- Staff were consistently supporting patients to live healthier lives through a targeted approach on health promotion and prevention of ill health.
- The development of staff skills and competence was recognised as integral to ensuring high quality care.
We have rated this practice as outstanding for providing well led services because:
- The leadership has built upon the foundations of their existing achievements and moved the practice forward with continuous improvement.
- The leadership, governance and culture drove the delivery of high quality person centred care. High standards were promoted and delivered by all practice staff with evidence of clear communication across all roles.
- Leaders had an inspiring shared purpose and strove to deliver and motivate staff to succeed. There was strong collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.
- The leadership drove continuous improvement and staff were accountable for delivering change. There was a proactive approach to seeking out new ways of providing care and treatment.
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care