Dr Sohan Lal Vashisht

Updated 22 December 2017

The registered provider for this service is Dr Sohan Lal Vashisht & Dr Riazur Rehman. This provider operates under a General Medical Services (GMS) contract. The practice is located in Warrior Square, in Southend-on-Sea and is based in a converted terraced house.

The practice provides services for a slightly higher than national average number of 0-18 year olds. The level of income deprivation affecting both children and older people is also slightly higher than the national average.

Updated 22 December 2017

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall.

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

As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:

Older People – Good

People with long-term conditions – Good

Families, children and young people – Good

Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good

People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good

People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Sohan Lal Vashisht on 28 November 2017. The inspection was completed 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 routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
• The practice was aware of their patient population needs and their preferences and worked to accommodate them.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
• Leadership of the practice was strong and the whole staff group worked as a team, with members’ skills complimenting each other.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

​ Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 11 February 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of people with long-term conditions. Nationally reported data for 2014/15 showed that the practice had performed well in the assessment and treatment of long term medical conditions and diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and respiratory conditions. Staff were proactive in following up on patients who did not attend appointments for health and medication reviews.

Patients were offered advice to help them manage their conditions and to live well. A range of health promotion and screening services were available to help in the prevention and early identification of long term conditions.

The practice identified those patients who were at risk of unplanned hospital admissions and the named GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care to support these patients to be treated at home.

Updated 11 February 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of families, children and young people. The practice offered same day appointments for children as needed. Appointments were available outside of school hours.

There were systems in place to identify and follow up children living in disadvantaged circumstances and who were at risk, for example, children and young people who had a high number of A&E attendances. The practice worked with other health and social care services to ensure that information was shared where adults and children were identified as being at risk.

Immunisation rates were similar to other GP practices for all standard childhood immunisations. Patients told us that children and young people were treated in an age-appropriate way and were recognised as individuals, and we saw evidence to confirm this.

Information and a range of sexual health and family planning clinics were available.

Updated 11 February 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of older people. Nationally reported data showed that outcomes for patients were good for conditions commonly found in older people. The practice offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older people, and offered home visits and rapid access to telephone advice and appointments for those with enhanced needs.

Approximately 65 patients lived in local care homes and the GP carried out weekly visits to review patients and monitor changes to their healthcare needs.

GPs worked with local multidisciplinary teams to reduce the number of unplanned hospital admissions for at risk patients including those with dementia and those receiving end of life palliative care.

Updated 11 February 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of working-age people (including those recently retired and students). The needs of the working age population, those recently retired and students had been identified and the practice had adjusted the services it offered to ensure these were accessible, flexible and offered continuity of care. The appointments system was flexible and staff aimed to offer all patients same day appointment or within 48 hours. Late evening appointments were available up to 7.30pm on Mondays for routine pre-booked and emergency appointments. Patients we spoke with confirmed that they were able to get an appointment that suited their needs.

The practice was proactive in offering online services including on-line appointment booking and electronic prescribing (where patients can arrange for their repeat prescriptions to be collected at a pharmacy of their choice).

The practice offered a full range of health promotion and screening that reflected the needs for this age group including well man and well woman checks.

Updated 11 February 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). The practice reviewed and monitored patients with dementia and carried out face-to-face reviews. Staff at the practice were proactive in carrying out dementia screening and liaised with the dementia community nurses to ensure that care was coordinated and effective to meet patient’s needs.

Patients with mental health conditions were reviewed and had an annual assessment of their physical health needs. Longer appointments and home visits were provided as required. The practice supported patients who lived at a local hostel and provided same day appointments when required.

The practice had told patients experiencing poor mental health about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations.

It had a system in place to follow up patients who had attended accident and emergency (A&E) where they may have been experiencing poor mental health.

Updated 11 February 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. Staff undertook safeguarding training and the practice had a dedicated safeguarding lead.

The practice held a register of patients living in vulnerable circumstances including patients with a terminal illness and those with a learning disability. The practice proactively promoted annual health checks for patients with learning disabilities and those with mental health conditions.

The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of vulnerable people. This helped to ensure that patients whose circumstances made them vulnerable were supported holistically and that patients who were at a higher risk of unplanned hospital admissions were supported to and treated in their home.

Staff knew how to recognise signs of abuse in vulnerable adults and children. Staff were aware of their responsibilities regarding information sharing, documentation of safeguarding concerns and how to contact relevant agencies in normal working hours and out of hours.