Campaigners Claim Victory as GP Contracts Stripped from Private Equity Firm

NHS Commissioners took the decision to terminate all of Operose’s GP contracts in Islington and Camden, having previously ended the contract at Operose’s St Ann’s Road GP Surgery in June.

This comes after North Central London Integrated Care Board (NCL ICB) disclosed that they were not informed, nor gave permission for the takeover of Operose by the private equity firm Twenty20 Capital.

In December, the NHS began a due diligence exercise to consider the proposed change of control. However, while checks were still ongoing, NCL ICB was informed on 15 March the change of control had already taken place nearly three months before, on 28 December. The NHS was not informed of this at the time.

Local campaigners from Haringey Keep our NHS public argued that this is a breach of contract that should have automatically been met with immediate notice of termination.

Operose runs GP surgeries right around the country, and no other ICB has terminated contracts as a result of the ‘serious breach’ of contracts following Operose’s takeover.

NCLs Primary Care Committee have bucked the trend where other ICBs have not acted on this breach of contract

Members of the committee took the view that they had lost trust in Operose, and a precedent needed to be set to other providers that contracts cannot be broken. They highlighted the importance of showing they were listening to voices of stakeholders ;and they had to act in the best interest of patient care.

Representatives from Operose did not even turn up to the Committee to present their view.

Alan Morton on behalf of Haringey Keep Our NHS Public has said that

"We welcome the decision of North Central London's Primary Care Committee (PCC) to terminate the contracts of Operose following serious contract breaches. We hope the PCC awards future contracts to local providers who prioritise improving the health and care of residents in the five boroughs of NCL and not to private equity companies and others who seek maximum profit from investments in health and care services."

AT Medics /Operose have over  50 GP surgeries, mainly in London, previously owned by the US health insurance giant, Centene Corporation, operating in the UK under the name Operose. Centene sold the practices to HCRG Care Group in December 2023 without NHS pemission. HCRG is itself owned by a British private equity company, T20 Osprey Midco Ltd.