Littletown Family Medical Practice

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