Medical Centre

Litchdon Medical Centre

There has been a Litchdon Medical Practice in Barnstaple since at least the 1860s. For decades the practice was located in Litchdon Street just off Barnstaple town square and directly opposite the old North Devon Infirmary.

The practice has relocated twice since then and now occupies purpose built premises on Landkey Road. We serve a population within a roughly 10 mile radius from Barnstaple and provide medical services on behalf of Devon PCT (Primary Care Trust). With a practice patient population of almost 16,000 we are the biggest practice in Devon and Cornwall outside of Exeter.

We offer a full range of medical care plus many other extra services that demonstrate our ethos of innovation for patient benefit.

We are a training practice, one of our core values being the education and development of the next generation of doctors. We see this as being extremely important and as such we run an active teaching programme for both undergraduate medical students and post-graduate doctors pursuing higher training to become specialists in general practice. We are very grateful to our patients for their active participation in this education.

We are a dispensing practice, which means that we are authorised by the PCT to dispense medicines to our rural patients. A full explanation of this can be found in the dispensary section.

Litchdon Medical Group is also the provider of the North Devon district dermatology service. We are very proud of the standard of this out-patient service that we have run since 2005. Further details can be found in the dermatology section.

The Medical Centre Team

The Practice team consists of nine GP’s/Doctors, Practice Manager, Practice Nurses, Receptionists, Dispensers, Office Staff, Cleaners and Caretakers.

Litchdon Medical Centre has a multidisciplinary team and you are able to see other members of the team, for example the practice nurse or health visitor - you do not have to see a doctor for permission. In recent years the team has broadened even more and are professionals in their own right and have areas of expertise that may be able to help you. If you are in doubt about who to speak to ask one of our Receptionists who will help you.

The Practice also trains GP’s, known as Registrars. There are often two registrars working in the practice. They are fully qualified doctors who have already worked in hospital medicine. A senior doctor here supervises the GP Registrars. (We have a commitment to teaching medical students in the practice. We will always ask your permission before they see you. Please let us know if you prefer not to see the student).

We also employ locum doctors who have to be accredited as suitable to work in general practice, this is when the numbers of doctors are low due to sickness, holidays or because doctors are regularly asked to be involved in work out of the practice for the wider health community.