Ripon Spa Surgery has responded to an announcement that a merger between GP practices in the city will move forward without it.
Last year, the NHS proposed merging the city’s Ripon Spa Surgery with North House Surgery and Park Street Surgery.
However, in an update sent to patients on Friday, partners at Park Street Surgery and Park Street said they will be moving forward with the merger but without Ripon Spa Surgery.
This was after they said it was found to be in after it was found to be in an “unexpectedly poor financial position” during the due diligence process.
The partners at Ripon Spa Surgery have now issued a joint statement to the Local Democracy Reporting Service that outlined their sadness at the decision.
They sought to reassure patients that the practice remains financially viable and said bosses are looking to make improvements in the coming months.
Dr Charles McEvoy, Dr Penny McEvoy, Dr Matt Mielcarek and managing partner Samantha Miles said:
“Due to the extremely difficult financial climate that general practice is facing, along with some specific challenges we have faced in the past couple of years, it will not be possible to bring our finances in line with the other practices in Ripon in time for the merger to proceed as planned.
“Although we still wanted to be part of the merger, it is with heavy hearts that we must acknowledge North House and Park Street’s decision not to proceed. This is truly sad and a huge disappointment for us, but we must emphasise that we remain financially viable as a business and will be working hard to improve the situation over the coming months.
“We are already discussing the way forward, both as a partnership and as a practice team, in order that we can continue to provide a service to our patients and safeguard the future of our practice for staff and patients alike.”
The merger between North House Surgery and Park Street Surgery will take place before October 2024. The new practice will be called Fountains Health.
The two practices will close for four afternoons over the next six months so staff can be brought together to prepare for the merger.
Read more:
- Work set to begin on Mojo bar extension in Harrogate
- Knaresborough Heritage Centre to open this month
Ripon GP surgery excluded from merger due to ‘poor financial position’
Plans to merge three Ripon doctors’ surgeries have been limited to two surgeries after it was revealed the third practice was in a “poor financial position”.
A proposed merger between North House Surgery, Park Street Surgery and Ripon Spa Surgery was scheduled to happen on July 1, 2024.
North House Surgery said at the time the move would improve patient care, safeguard healthcare in Ripon, enable patients to have a stronger voice and trigger economies of scale.
But a social media post signed by North House partners Dr Kate Dickinson, Dr Peter Johnson and Dr Hannah Thomas on Friday revealed only two of the surgeries — North House and Park Street — will now merge. They will become known as Fountains Health.
Spa Surgery will no longer be involved.
The post said:
“Unfortunately, during the due diligence process, Ripon Spa Surgery were found to be in an unexpectedly poor financial position. They have permitted us to share this sensitive piece of information. As a result of this situation North House and Park Street partners do not feel able to merge with Ripon Spa at this time and so they will no longer be involved in the merger process.
“This is hugely disappointing for all concerned as we have all been working closely on these plans for some time and everyone had been looking forward to working together as part of a larger combined team at Fountains Health. We still believe that a merger between North House Surgery and Park Street Surgery is a positive option for our practice, its patients and our staff.”
Ripon Spa Surgery
The merger has now been delayed until October this year due to the change in plans.
North Spa Surgery said:
“The proposed date to merge has been put back to October 2024 to allow us extra time to complete the work that is now needed to enable a smooth merger for both our patients and staff.
“To help us achieve this, there will be four afternoons over the next six months when the two practices will need to close so that staff can be brought together to complete this important work. During these times, patients will have access to the out of hours service. We will provide a further update to patients on the progress of the merger in the summer.”
No further details on what will happen to Spa Surgery patients were revealed in the post.
Park Street surgery, Ripon.
Read more:
- Harrogate physio to help England’s World Cup bid in Thailand
- Police investigate serious assault at Ripon pub
Vaccination clinics cause queues and tailbacks in Ripon
High demand for flu and covid vaccinations led to traffic tailbacks and long queues in Ripon at the weekend.
The Park Street GP practice of Dr Ingram and Partners and Ripon Spa Surgery, which are across the road from each other, both held clinics on Saturday.
In an area of the city with only limited parking, people arriving by car experienced difficulty finding a space to park, leading to tailbacks from Park Street to Westgate and Blossomgate.
Cars outside Ripon Spa Surgery on Saturday.
There were also hold-ups for people who managed to find a parking space, or who arrived on foot, as the queue for the Park Street surgery stretched back to the Westgate and Blossomgate junction.
The number of people making appointments for vaccination may have increased following a Facebook post on Thursday (September 14) by Ripon and Masham Primary Care Network, which covers the two Park Street practices, along with the North House Surgery in North Street and Dr Akester & Partners in Masham and Kirkby Malzeard.
It said:
“At short notice we have secured some covid vaccine to co-administer alongside flu jabs at our GP practice flu clinics.”
“If you are eligible for covid vaccination, subject to supplies, this will be offered to you at your GP flu appointment at your surgery.
“We strongly encourage patients to consider having both on the same day, in order to help us to deliver this protection to as many patients as possible,
“If you wish to have your covid vaccine at your appointment you do not need to let us know in advance.”
The Stray Ferret approached both Park Street practices regarding Saturday’s traffic issues and to ask if further flu and covid clinics are planned.
There had been no response at the time of publication from Ripon Spa Surgery, but a member of staff at Dr Ingram & Partners said a further clinic is scheduled for Saturday.
Read more: