NHS Bosses Ditch Respected Brighton Based GP Surgery Team

NHS plans to drop a Brighton-based healthcare team running a doctor’s surgery and replace it with a private provider have resulted in outrage in the community and from councillors.

The Sussex Integrated Care Board (ICB) – also known as NHS Sussex – plans to replace the Wellsbourne Healthcare Community Interest Company (CIC) with Leeds-based One Medical Group.

The CIC has appealed against the decision and a social media campaign has started, encouraging people to make their views known to health commissioners.

Whitehawk resident and tenant representative Anne Glow was shocked by the news and wrote to NHS Sussex, saying:

“The residents of this area are so upset to hear this review and wish to overturn the provisional decision to award the contract to a distant private provider.

“Such a move would be highly likely to lead to the sort of diminished quality of provision and health outcomes, let alone zero community links and engagement, that characterised some of the dreadful GP surgery services offered in East Brighton in the past.

“This community needs hands-on relationship-based care delivered by people who know the area and are trusted by us that live here.

“So many serious mental problems, trauma, addiction and social needs in the area and we know we can trust the Wellsbourne clinic to help us big time.”

Labour councillors Gill Williams and David McGregor, who represent Whitehawk and Marina ward, have asked Brighton and Hove City Council to hold an emergency Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) meeting to hold the decision-makers accountable.

Councillor Williams said yesterday (Tuesday 6 May):

“I met with the doctors and directors of Wellsbourne this morning.

“It is devastating news that this incredibly important contract is in danger of going to an out-of-area for-profit organisation who has never actually been to the centre.”

She has joined a newly formed action group which is in the process of organising a public meeting.

Councillor McGregor said:

“I’m deeply concerned to hear about the changes to our GP services in Whitehawk.

“The Wellsbourne Healthcare CIC has been an exemplary service for our community and

"I’m in complete support of the continued appeal so they can continue.

“I’m calling for this to be taken up by HOSC and properly scrutinised and have joined in writing to our local MP to lead this process with the trust.”

The Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, Chris Ward, has written to NHS Sussex calling for a rethink and shared his support with Wellsbourne CIC.

Mr Ward said:

“I’ve heard directly from patients about the life-changing impact Wellsbourne Healthcare has had.

“The trust built between the team and local residents is invaluable and not easily replaced.

“It’s deeply worrying that this could be lost to a provider with no connection to the community and whose motivation includes profit, not just patient care.”

Labour councillor Jacob Allen, the council’s cabinet member for adult social care, public health and service transformation, noted that the integrated care board had had to cut its budget this year.

In April, NHS Sussex chair Stephen Lightfoot told members of the council’s Health and Wellbeing Board that his budget had halved after the government abolished NHS England.

Councillor Allen said:

“As a Labour councillor, I believe there must be a laser focus on tackling health inequalities in our city, especially in areas like Whitehawk where residents already face significant challenges.

“That focus must be front and centre when public contracts are awarded.

“I am therefore extremely concerned about the decision to remove GP services from Wellsbourne Healthcare CIC, a trusted not-for-profit local provider rated good by the Care Quality Commission, with strong ties to community organisations.

“It is an example of how primary healthcare should operate. I will be scrutinising the commissioning process to understand how this decision was reached and whether it adequately considered the needs of this community.”

Labour councillor Faiza Baghoth, who chairs the Health and Wellbeing Board, has asked for details of how the decision was made and what public consultation took place because the move came as a surprise to her.

She has also asked council officers what can be done to review the decision.

Green councillor Raphael Hill, who represents his party on the council’s Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) has urged people to contact NHS Sussex with their concerns about the decision.

Councillor Hill said:

“I don’t like having for-profit providers taking over the community healthcare provision in the city.

“That the company lacks a local connection, being based in Leeds also makes me doubtful that this is anything more than a money-making exercise for them. It’s vital that council members challenge them at a special HOSC meeting.”

Wellsbourne Healthcare was formed after the Practice Group – now part of Operose Health – stopped operating from Whitehawk in 2016 because it wasn’t making enough money from its contract.

It took on the GP (general practice) surgery in Whitehawk Road, Whitehawk, and is rated good by the official watchdog, the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Concerned residents and patients are urged to contact NHS Sussex by emailing the chair of the board at sxicb.contactus@nhs.net.

One Medical Group, the company chosen by NHS Sussex, was told that one of its GP surgeries and walk-in centres “required improvement” after an inspection by the CQC.

The regulator inspected the Shakespeare Medical Practice, in Leeds, two years ago after whistleblowers raised concerns. The CQC criticised shortcomings in leadership and effectiveness.

The company, owned by Michael Beverley, a 77-year-old former director of Leeds United Football Club, made a pre-tax profit of £1.2 million on turnover of almost £29 million, according to its most recent accounts.

It has also dropped a difficult contract in the past, walking away from the Circuit Lane Surgery, in Reading, in 2018 amid a series of critical CQC reports.

NHS Sussex was approached for comment.