4,800 patients face move to new surgery as GP practice closes
THE owner of a GP surgery in Broxtowe Estate, which has consistently received negative inspections, has announced that it will close today.
Dr Chaitra Hodegere, who took ownership of the RHR Medical Centre, in Calverton Drive, from previous doctors Marcus Bicknell and Kalpana Sharma, said financial difficulties had led to the decision to shut.
Dr Hodegere manned the surgery in September 2019 and took on more than 1,800 patients following the closure of Strelley Health Centre, in Strelley Road, which was closed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in July last year.
The surgery has around 4,800 patients, according to the latest CQC report.
In a statement to patients, Dr Hodegere said that when he took over the contract, the surgery had a CQC rating of “requires improvement” with two warning notices and that the practice had improved by “leaps and bounds” to avoid closure.
He said staff numbers were increased, with regular clinicians working regular shifts to ensure continuity of care.
“I am grateful for all the positive feedback you have given,” he added. “I do realise that we were found short of your expectations at times and I apologise for that.
“I took more than 1,800 extra patients from the Strelley closure, which was enough to destabilise any practice and more so a practice, which required improvements.
“Despite all of this, we provided a smooth transition, in addition to improving the care of the previously registered RHR patients.
“This is despite being the only practice in the locality which did not receive the additional funding for this surge of patients and the additional work it generated.
“Hence, I had to give notice to our contract in December 2019.
“Despite this we have safely negotiated another CQC inspection after this date to prevent a situation where our patients didn’t end up without a GP surgery and staff of RHR surgery without jobs.”
All patients will be transferred to the location of the former Strelley Health Centre, which will now be operated by Operose Health under the new name Broad Oak Medical Centre.
A Nottingham City CCG spokesperson said: “As NHS commissioners, our first priority is to ensure people can access high quality healthcare in their local community.
“The current RHR contract holder’s decision to leave the practice required the CCG to carry out a rigorous and transparent process to award the contract to a new primary care provider.
“All patients have received a letter informing them of the change and if patients have any questions they can read an FAQ on our website or contact our patient experience team at Ncccg.patientexperience@nhs.net.”