Dr Z Ahmad & Partners Also known as Gardenia & Marsh Farm Practice

Updated 21 May 2018

Dr Z Ahmad & Partners provides a range of primary medical services to the residents of Luton. The practice has a registered manager in place. A registered manager is an individual registered with CQC to manage the regulated activities provided.

The practice provides primary medical services under a general medical services (GMS) contract from its purpose built location of Gardenia Surgery, 2a Gardenia Avenue, Luton LU3 2NS and its branch practice of Marsh Farm Medical Centre, The Purley Centre, Luton, LU3 3SR. We visited both sites as part of the inspection. Online services can be accessed from the practice website

The practice has approximately 12,500 patients. The practice population is of mixed ethnicity with an average age range. National data indicates the area is one of mid to high deprivation.

The practice is led by three GP partners, all male and they employ one female salaried GP. They use three regular GP locums, one male and two female, to support the clinical team. The nursing team consists of a nurse practitioner and three general practice nurses, all female. They also employ a part-time pharmacist, female and a part-time locum pharmacist, male. There is a team of administrative and reception staff and a phlebotomist all led by the practice manager.

Dr Z Ahmad & Partners is open at Gardenia Surgery on Monday to Friday from 8.45am until 6.00pm (5.00pm on Wednesdays) and at Marsh Farm Medical Centre on Monday to Friday from 8.45am until 6.00pm (5.00pm on Thursdays). A duty GP can be contacted via the telephone from 8am to 8.45am and from 6pm to 6.30pm Monday to Friday in case of an emergency.

When the practice is closed out-of-hours services are provided by Herts Urgent Care and can be accessed via the NHS 111 service.

Updated 21 May 2018

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection 11/2014 – Good)

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Z Ahmad & Partners on 10 April 2018. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
• The practice displayed a good understanding of the duty of candour.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Some areas of practice performance were below local and national averages. However, the practice had identified the reasons for this and developed comprehensive action plans to make improvements.
• The practice referred patients to expert patient programmes to help them manage their conditions. For example, patients with type 2 diabetes were referred to the DESMOND programme. (Diabetes Education and Self-Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed. Patient education for people with diabetes.)
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• The facilities and premises were appropriate for the services delivered. At both the main practice and the practices branch site, the consultation and treatment rooms were on the ground floor and access enabled toilets were available.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
• The practice worked to secure and keep services local for patients. For example, they started a long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) service after negotiating with the Luton Borough Council to secure funding.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Complete an action plan to address the areas in need of improvement found in the infection prevention and control (IPC) audit.
• Implement the identified actions to make improvements to the quality and outcomes framework (QOF) monitoring of patients.
• Consider formal training for reception staff to help them identify ‘red flag’ sepsis symptoms.
• Review patient satisfaction in response to the practice opening hours.
• Consider ways to further identify and support patients who are also carers.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 21 May 2018

Updated 21 May 2018

Updated 21 May 2018

Updated 21 May 2018

Updated 21 May 2018

Updated 21 May 2018