Archived: Dr Somendra Lal Ghose

Updated 31 August 2016

Dr Somendra Lal Ghose is registered with the CQC to provide primary care services, which includes access to GPs, minor surgery, family planning, ante and post natal care. The practice provides GP services for 1462 patients living in the Aintree area of Liverpool. The practice has one long standing General Practitioner (GP) partner, one practice nurse, one healthcare assistant, a practice manager and deputy practice manager and a number of receptionist/administration staff. The practice is part of NHS Liverpool CCG .

GP consultation times are Monday to Friday 9.30am to 11.30am and 4.30pm to 6pm. The surgery is closed on the last Thursday afternoon of each month (excluding August and December) for training. Patients can book appointments in person, via the telephone and online. Appointments can be booked for up to a week in advance for the doctors and a month in advance for the nursing clinics. The practice treats patients of all ages and provides a range of medical services. When the practice is closed patients can access the out of hour’s provider for Liverpool, Urgent Care 24 (UC24).

Updated 31 August 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This is the report of findings from our inspection of Dr Somendra Lal Ghose. The practice is registered with the CQC to provide primary care services. We undertook a planned, comprehensive inspection on 14 October 2014 and we spoke with patients, relatives, staff and the practice management team.

The practice was rated as Good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• The practice is safe in part. Staff understood and met their responsibilities to raise concerns and report incidents, risks and near misses. Lessons were learned and communicated widely to support improvement. There were enough staff to keep people safe. We found that staff with chaperoning responsibilities had not completed a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

• The practice is effective. Patient’s needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with current legislation. Staff received training appropriate to their roles and further training needs have been identified and planned.
• The practice is caring. Many patients told us they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and that they were involved in care and treatment decisions. Accessible information was provided to help patients understand the care available to them.
• The practice is responsive. The practice reviewed the needs of their local population. Patients reported good access to the practice. The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. There was an accessible complaints system with evidence demonstrating the practice responded quickly to issues raised.
• The practice is well-led. There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. There were systems in place to monitor and improve quality and identify risk. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients and this had been acted upon. The practice had an active patient participation group (PPG).  Staff received inductions, regular performance reviews and attended staff meetings and events.

There were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements. 

The provider must:

• The provider must ensure that all staff with chaperoning responsibilities have had a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check completed. Reg 21

The provider should:

• Undertake a disabled access audit to ensure the entrance to the practice meets the Equality Act 2010
• Ensure annual PAT tests are completed for all electrical equipment in use.
• Have available the use of equipment such as pulse oximeters, defibrillators and oxygen for emergency treatments in line with current external guidance and national standards.

• Have available the use of equipment such as pulse oximeters, defibrillators and oxygen for emergency treatments in line with current external guidance and national standards.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 5 February 2015

The practice had processes in place for the referral of patients with long term conditions that had a sudden deterioration in health. The GP reviewed all unplanned admissions to hospital. Registers of long term conditions were kept and annual reviews of patients were carried out, including a review of medications. All patients with an unplanned admission to hospital were reviewed by the GP on discharge. The practice had summary care records and special patient notes in place to share with other providers.  We saw health promotional advice and information and referral to support services for example smoking cessation.

Updated 5 February 2015

The practice had systems in place for identifying children, young people and families living in disadvantaged circumstances. The practice monitored children and young people with a high number of A&E attendances. The GP had written reports for safeguarding and child protection hearings as required.

The practice identified and reviewed newly pregnant women with ante and post natal referrals along with patients who experienced issues with their pregnancy.  Regular meetings were held at the practice with midwives, health visitors and district nurses. If required the GP would liaise with school nurses working locally.

Staff we spoke with were aware of consent best practice (Gillick competences). The practice nurse undertook children immunisation sessions and the practice followed up patients who did not attend their appointment. We saw health promotional advice, information and signposting to support organisations and services for families, children and young people, including for sexual health clinics and mental health services.

Updated 5 February 2015

Staff were able to recognise signs of abuse in older people and knew how to escalate or refer these concerns if needed. They recognised the complex needs of older people and how best to treat them. The practice kept a register of all older people to help them plan for the regular review of their care and treatment. Structured annual assessment of older people took place.

The practice was working towards establishing a care co-ordinator for all older people on their practice register. If older patients were admitted to hospital in an unplanned way this was reviewed by the GP and if required changes would be made to their treatment plan for example a change in medications. Health promotional advice and support was given to patients and leaflets were seen at the practice. These included signposting older patients and their carers to support services across the local community. Older patients were offered vaccines such as the Flu vaccine each year.

Updated 5 February 2015

The practice provided a range of services for patients to consult with GPs and nurses, including on-line booking and telephone consultations. Staff had a programme in place to make sure no patient missed their regular reviews for their condition such as diabetes, respiratory and cardiovascular problems. Appointments were available prior to 9am on one day each week.  

Updated 5 February 2015

The practice maintained a register of patients who experienced mental health problems. The register supported clinical staff to offer patients an annual appointment for a health check and a medication review. Clinicians routinely and appropriately referred patients to counselling and talking therapy services, as well as psychiatric provision. 

Updated 5 February 2015

Identification of people at risk of abuse and follow up actions were taken. Systems were in place for sharing information about people at risk of abuse with other organisations where appropriate. The practice had a system in place for identifying people living in vulnerable circumstances. A register was kept of patients with a learning disability to help with the planning of services and reviews. All such patients were offered an annual health check. We heard of the close links with community teams supporting this patient group. We saw health promotional advice and information available for patients.