During an assessment under our new approach
Larkside Practice is a GP practice that delivers services to around 9,767 patients under a contract held with NHS England. It is in a purpose built 2 storey location that is shared with another GP practice at Churchfield Medical Centre, 322 Crawley Green Road, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU2 9SB. Patient consultations and treatments take place on the ground floor aside from phlebotomy services (a lift based second floor service which also accommodates staff offices).
This assessment considered the demographics of the people using the service, the context the service was working within and how this impacted service delivery. We carried out this assessment in response to concerns and risk we identified through our ongoing monitoring of the service.
Overall, the practice is now rated as requires improvement, with the key questions safe and well-led rated as requires improvement and effective and responsive rated as good. This was because the practice did not always provide care in a way that kept people safe and protected from avoidable harm; and because the service was not always led in a way that supported the delivery of high quality care, learning and innovation. Processes for managing risks, issues, and performance were not always effective. However, we also found that generally staff worked effectively across teams and services to support people, delivered person centred care and recognised the importance of flexibility, informed choice and continuity of care. During this assessment, we did not look at the key question caring. So, its good rating is based on its previous inspection rating, dated 24 March 2016.
We found breaches of regulation in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment. Where relevant, further commentary is provided in the quality statements section of this report.