The Ringmead Medical Group, previously recognised as a 'Good' establishment has spiralled to a 'Requires Improvement' rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) since joining forces with the Sandhurst Group Practice in July 2023.

The drastic dip, revealed after an inspection between February 14 and March 5, 2024, has shaken the local healthcare sector.

The Birch Hill Medical Centre, home to the Ringmead Medical Group, was once renowned for its high standards of care, praised for being safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well-led.

However, after a thorough assessment, various breaches in regulations relating to safe care, treatment, and governance systems have been pointed out.

These were accompanied by findings of poorly followed best practice, national guidance, or safety alerts from the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

While the CQC reported instances of ineffective and inconsistently operated governance processes both in clinical and non-clinical areas, a more disturbing revelation was the practice's incompetency in identifying and managing risks.

They remarked: "We were also not assured leadership had effective oversight of all the risks faced by the practice."

Moreover, the assessment brought mixed responses from staff about their workplace culture, varying from those who felt supported to those who felt otherwise.

However, it wasn't all grim.

The CQC confirmed that the practice showed potential with their steps taken to improve patient experiences and identified patients requiring additional support.

The inspection also scrutinised 35 pieces of patient feedback.

Out of these, 15 depicted a positive experience, while 18 painted a negetive picture.

The negative feedback majorly revolved around delays in accessing appointments, registration difficulties, unsatisfactory personal experiences and difficulty obtaining repeat prescriptions.

Addressing these concerns, Ringmead's senior partner, Dr Anant Sachdev, said: "We are grateful to the CQC for highlighting the two areas that 'requires improvement' but also pleased that in three other areas we received a 'Good' rating".

Acknowledging the efforts taken since their merger with Sandhurst, Dr Sachdev added, "Work will continue at pace still, but we appreciate we still have some way to go to stabilise the merged practice to the standard we are aiming for.

"We have already progressed some of the outstanding work such as illness and medication reviews and are putting in place systems to ensure there is safety and high quality of care delivered by the practice."

As the Ringmead Group struggles with their plummeting reputation post-merger, their commitment towards their patients and staff remains robust.

Despite the chinks in their armour, Dr Sachdev assured that day-to-day services and treatments remain unaffected, and they continue to welcome patient concerns in their stride.