Archived: Dr Rahul Mehrotra

Updated 6 February 2017

Dr Rahul Mehrotra surgery is located in Darnall Health Centre on the outskirts of Sheffield city centre. The GP has another practice at Richmond Road Surgery in Sheffield, S13 8LZ. Both practices have one patient list and provide services for 3,386 patients under the terms of the NHS Personal Medical Services contract. The practice catchment area is classed as within the group of the most deprived areas in England. The age profile of the practice population is similar to other GP practices in the local area.

The practice has one male GP, a practice nurse, a healthcare assistant, a practice manager and a team of reception and administrative staff.

The surgery is open between 8am 6pm weekdays and closes at noon on Thursday. Telephone calls to the practice during this time are answered at the Richmond Road Surgery. Patients can also book appointments at the Richmond Road Surgery.

Appointments are available with GPs between 9am to 11am Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and 3pm to 5pm daily with the exception of Thursday afternoon. Pre-booked appointments with GPs are offered every Monday evening at the Darnall site from 5.40pm to 7.40pm. Appointments with the practice nurse are available every week day apart from Fridays and with the healthcare assistant every weekday morning.

In addition to pre-bookable appointments that could be booked up to six weeks in advance, urgent appointments were also available for people that needed them. A phlebotomy service with the healthcare assistant is available daily.

When the practice is closed calls were answered by the out-of-hours service which is accessed via the surgery telephone number or by calling the NHS 111 service.

The practice is located in a purpose built building with all patient facilities on the ground floor. There are a number of parking spaces to the front and rear of the practice and designated disabled parking spaces.

Updated 6 February 2017

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Richmond Road Surgery on 5 December 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events. However the practice did not have the processes written down within a significant event policy. They have since written a policy and shared it with the commission.
• Risks to patients were assessed and managed.

• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
• Patients said they sometimes found it difficult to get through to the practice by telephone, however there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• The practice had good facilities and was equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• Staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour, however this was not contained within a written procedure.

The areas where the provider must make improvement are:

• Ensure a consistent approach to reviewing patient outcomes which contributes to a programme of continuous quality assurance.
• Ensure patient satisfaction with the service is monitored and action plans followed up and findings implemented.
• Ensure staff have access to relevant upto date policies and procedures to support them in their role.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Review how staff record actions taken as a result of current evidence based guidance and standards, including National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) best practice guidelines.
• Continue with the review of telephone access to the practice and establish a solution to improve access for patients.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 6 February 2017

The practice is rated as good for the care of people with long-term conditions.

• Practice nursing staff had lead roles in long term condition management and patients at risk of hospital admission were identified as a priority.
• Performance for diabetes related indicators was 2% below the CCG average and comparable to the national average.
• Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed.
• All these patients had a named GP and a structured annual review to check their health and medicines needs were being met. For those patients with the most complex needs, the named GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.

Updated 6 February 2017

The practice is rated as good for the care of families, children and young people.

• 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 accident and emergency attendances. Immunisation rates were lower for some childhood immunisations due to a practice nurse vacancy.
• 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.
• The practice’s uptake for the cervical screening programme was 80%, which was 8% below the CCG average and 1% below the national average.
• Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies.
• We saw positive examples of joint working with midwives, health visitors and school nurses.

Updated 6 February 2017

The practice is rated as good for the care of older people.

• The practice offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population.
• The practice was responsive to the needs of older people, and offered home visits and urgent appointments for those with enhanced needs.

Updated 6 February 2017

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 practice was proactive in offering online services as well as a full range of health promotion and screening that reflects the needs for this age group.

Updated 6 February 2017

The practice is rated as good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people living with dementia). 

• 94% of patients diagnosed with dementia had had their care reviewed in a face to face meeting in the last 12 months, which is above the national average of 84%.
• 94% of patients diagnosed with poor mental health had an agreed care plan in place in the last 12 months, which is above the national average of 88%.
• A counsellor held clinics at the practice offering talking therapies to patients. Staff told us the service was popular with patients particularly to assist them to make healthy life choices.
• The practice regularly worked with multidisciplinary teams in the case management of patients experiencing poor mental health, including those with dementia.
• The practice carried out advance care planning for patients with dementia.
• The practice had told patients experiencing poor mental health about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations.
• The practice had a system in place to follow up patients who had attended accident and emergency where they may have been experiencing poor mental health.
• Staff had a good understanding of how to support patients with mental health needs and dementia.

Updated 6 February 2017

The practice is rated as good for the care of people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable.

• The practice held a register of patients living in vulnerable circumstances including those with a learning disability.
• The practice offered longer appointments for patients with a learning disability.
• The practice regularly worked with other health care professionals in the case management of vulnerable patients.
• The practice informed vulnerable patients about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations.
• 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.