Dr Hallikeri and Partners

Updated 2 December 2021

Little Lever Health Centre 1 (also known as Dr Hallikeri and Partners) is located in the Little Lever area of Bolton.

The postal address is: Mytham Road

Little Lever

Bolton

Lancashire

BL3 1 JF

The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

These activities are delivered from the premises in Mytham Road.

The practice is situated within the Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and delivers General Medical Services (GMS) to a patient population of about 4365. This is part of a contract held with NHS England. The practice is part of a wider network of GP practices within Bolton.

Information published by Public Health England shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the third lowest decile (three of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others. According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 13% Asian, 83% White, 1% Black and 3% Mixed or Other.

There is a team of clinicians comprising the lead GP and Locum GPs when required, who provide medical care at the practice. In addition, there is an advanced nurse practitioner (who works similarly to a GP and under GP supervision), a practice nurse and a health care practitioner. The nurse and health care practitioner undertake clinic’s for long-term conditions and minor ailments. The clinical staff are supported by a practice manager, a business manager and a team of reception/administration staff.

Despite the enhanced infection prevention and control measures required since the pandemic and in line with the national guidance, the practice was now seeing all patients face to face if requested, but also via telephone consultations if preferred.

Extended access is provided locally by the primary care network, where late evening and weekend appointments are available. Out of hours services are provided by Bardoc.

Updated 2 December 2021

We carried out an announced inspection at Little Lever Health Centre 1 (also known as Dr Hallikeri and Partners) on 25 October 2021.

Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

Set out the ratings for each key question

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring - Good

Responsive - Good

Well-led - Good

The practice was inspected under our previous methodology on 12 January 2017 when it was rated as Good overall.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Little Lever Health Centre 1 on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

This was a comprehensive inspection under new methodology. The inspection included all key questions.

How we carried out the inspection

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently. This inspection/review was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

• Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing
• Completing clinical searches remotely on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider
• Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider
• Requesting evidence from the provider
• A short site visit

Our findings

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 and
• information from the provider and other organisations.

We have rated this practice as Good overall

We found that:

• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The practice was responsive to feedback from patients
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

• Intervene and/or consult with the health care assistant in a supervisory way, particularly in relation to the care of patients with poor diabetic control.
• Review the way in which clinicians manage the pop-up alerts on the clinical system to ensure they are adhered to at each patient consultation. Formalise the system in place to manage alerts received into the practice to evidence what action is required, what action has been taken and by whom.
• Formalise the system in place to manage unexpected events so that learning can be formalised, and no major incidents are missed.
• Ensure that everyone with direct patient contact, including reception staff, is up to date with their routine immunisations including tetanus, polio, diphtheria, measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).

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