Littletown Family Medical Practice

Updated 14 September 2023

Littletown Family Medical Practice is located at 53 Manchester Road, Oldham, OL8 4LR. The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the regulated activities diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services, surgical procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The practice is situated within the Greater Manchester Integrated Care System (ICS) and delivers General Medical Services (GMS) to a patient population of about 7293. This is part of a contract held with NHS England.

The practice is part of a wider network of 7 GP practices, Milltown Alliance (known as Cluster West).

The practice has 2 GP partners, 1 male and 1 female. The clinical team also included a salaried GP, and long-term locum GP, 2 practice nurses, an assistant practitioner, a healthcare assistant and a clinical pharmacist. There is a practice manager and assistant manager, supported by several administrative and reception staff.

The practice is in line with the national average of patients’ age ranges. The National General Practice Profile states that 54% of the practice population is of white ethnicity, with 42% Asian and 4% black, mixed or other ethnicity.

Information published by Public Health England rates the level of deprivation within the practice population group as 1, on a scale of 1 to10. Level 1 represents the highest levels of deprivation and level 10 the lowest.

The practice is open from 8am to 6.30pm Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, and 7.30am to 6.30pm Wednesday and Friday.

Updated 14 September 2023

We carried out an announced inspection at Littletown Family Medical Practice on 2 August 2023. Overall, the practice is rated as Good with the following key question ratings:

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring - Good

Responsive - Good

Well-led - Good

Why we carried out this inspection

This was a full comprehensive inspection due to changes to the registration of the practice. The practice had previously been registered as an individual but had changed to a partnership.

How we carried out the inspection

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This included:

• Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing.
• Completing clinical searches on the practice's patient records system (this was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements).
• 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, patients, the public and other organisations.

We have rated this practice as Good overall and for all key questions.

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.
• Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care.

We found areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice held educational events at a local mosque. Topics included the importance of childhood vaccinations and women’s health. Clinicians spoke Urdu and English so attendees could understand and take part in discussions. The practice could evidence patients attending for health screening following an educational event.
• The practice had developed a targeted prostate cancer screening programme for their male patients which had run for 2 years. They could evidence confirmed early diagnoses of prostate cancer following this screening. In addition, they carried out opportunistic screening for patients who decided to be screened following a discussion with a clinician outside the main screening programme.
• The practice nurse led a weekly walking group for patients. This was to encourage exercise but was also used as an opportunity for informal discussion during the walks. During the walks the practice had identified patients who would benefit from additional support, and with the patients’ consent referrals to focused care workers, who looked at patients’ holistic needs, were made.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Health Care