Driving Innovation and Integration in Care – Meet Sohrab
Sohrab’s journey highlights the power of apprenticeships to grow clinical expertise within social care and build more joined-up care.
From Pharmacy to Care
Sohrab built his career in Bangladesh as a pharmacist, progressing to Chief Pharmacist in leading hospitals. He also began a PhD in South Korea focused on anti-cancer immunotherapy. When illness and the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted his academic path, he faced the challenge of restarting his professional journey in the UK.
He initially worked as a pharmacy dispenser, but found the role did not use his full capabilities. Sohrab then joined Sunday Care Therapy as a care partner and worked his way up to become deputy manager.
Rapid Progression and Role Expansion
Within a year, Sohrab took on additional responsibilities including medication management, case coordination, and liaison with GPs and community pharmacies. This led to promotion as Deputy Manager. In this role he supports operational oversight while continuing to deliver direct care to residents.
His rapid progression illustrates how the care sector, with the right roles and support, can recognise and harness professional skills that might otherwise be overlooked.
Innovation in Practice
Sohrab’s clinical background has already improved care through practical, resident-centred problem solving. When supporting a client experiencing alcohol dependence and recurrent falls, he developed a staged harm-reduction approach in agreement with the client. The plan was recorded within the care plan and communicated through appropriate clinical channels.
Over time, this intervention contributed to fewer alcohol-related falls and visible improvement in overall wellbeing. For Sohrab, the value is in seeing tangible change in the person’s health and confidence:
“When I see his face, his skin and everything is glowing. It makes me more happy, knowing I have done something to improve someone’s quality of life”
Building a system capacity through enhanced roles.
Sohrab is now undertaking an Assistant Practitioner Apprenticeship. He sees this as a step toward qualifying as an Occupational Therapist, allowing him to provide more specialist, hands-on input for residents and work more closely with NHS partners to increase capacity in the community.
His ambition is rooted in strengthening the wider health and care system:
- Embedding advanced clinical skills in care services helps prevent avoidable deterioration and reduces unnecessary hospital admissions.
- Bridging with GPs and pharmacists supports safer medicines management and more coordinated care.
- Developing clinical pathways within care expands community capacity alongside the NHS and supports care closer to home.
“I’m genuinely proud that, alongside Care City, we’ve funded Sohrab to begin his training through an Assistant Practitioner apprenticeship with an occupational therapy pathway at the University of Derby. It’s taken a lot of co-work, trust, and people saying “yes, let’s do this properly” to get where we are.
At Sunday Care Therapy, our way of working is all about delivering better care at home. By supporting enhanced roles within social care, we are demonstrating how this sector can unlock advanced clinical talent, improve outcomes for residents, and strengthen integration with NHS partners. Supporting this apprenticeship route feels like an important and practical step, with clear progression into the occupational therapy profession.
The benefits are huge: for the NHS, increased occupational therapy capacity to keep people well at home and support safe discharge; for social services, stronger skills within frontline care and improved outcomes for the people we support.
Most of all, this is a meaningful investment in the future of integrated, home-based care. Sohrab’s journey shows what becomes possible when skilled professionals are supported to grow within care, and how care providers can be active partners in developing the occupational therapy workforce our communities need.”
Derek Sleater, Director and Occupational Therapist, Sunday Care Therapy
Future Vision
Sohrab hopes to qualify as an Occupational Therapist and eventually lead his own Sunday Care Therapy branch, increasing occupational therapy capacity within local services. Longer term, he also aims to return to research, building on his earlier academic work. Throughout his journey, he remains focused on opportunity and contribution.
Why Sohrab’s Story Matters
Sohrab’s experience shows how integrated, enhanced roles can unlock innovation within care settings:
- For residents: improved outcomes through inventive, clinically informed, preventative care.
- For providers: stronger leadership continuity, expanded internal capability, and operational resilience.
- For the system: reduced pressure on NHS services and greater integration between health and social care.
With the right development pathways, social care can cultivate clinical talent that improves quality, builds capacity, and strengthens the whole system.
About the programme – How Enhanced Roles are Transforming Health & Social Care in North East London
At Care City we believe the future of care depends on breaking down barriers between health and social care and empowering the workforce at the heart of both. With funding from the Rayne Foundation and working in partnership with local care providers and universities, we are leading a transformational project to develop and embed Nursing Associate and Allied Health Professional (AHP) Assistant Practitioner roles within social care settings.
These new roles bridge the gap between care providers and NHS Trusts, creating clear career pathways for care staff while easing pressure on the NHS, improving health outcomes, and ensuring people receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time. At a moment when staff shortages and rising demand are stretching services to their limits, this programme shows how “growing our own” skilled workforce within care can deliver lasting change.
