Newham is at the centre of a growing storm over NHS privatisation fears following the transfer of GP care for thousands of local patients into the hands of an organisation controlled by a giant American health corporation.

A top-level meeting with health care regulators has been organised this month to find out how this takeover was “nodded through” earlier in the year, without any public consultation.

Local doctors, councillors and campaigners are calling for a thorough investigation into the move that affects thousands of patients in Stratford, Manor Park, Canning Town and North Woolwich and up to half a million patients receiving GP services in London and around the UK.

The Newham GP practices were part of the highly-respected London-wide AT Medics group which was taken over by Operose Health, a UK subsidiary of Centene Corp based in Missouri, creating the largest private supplier of GP services in the UK with 58 GP practices across the country.

Already a coalition of doctors, campaigners and academics have written to the health secretary Matt Hancock requesting a national investigation by the Care Quality Commission. They say this latest move is “privatisation of the NHS by stealth”.

In Newham campaigners echo this concern and worry that the takeover was not subject to proper scrutiny or any form of public consultation. “This will have an impact on patient care,” warned one local doctor.

“This is a takeover by the back-door, without discussion with patients, and nodded through without proper meetings, all under the cover of the pandemic,” said Phil Edwards a leader of the Newham Save Our NHS group.

He said the loophole opening the door to transfers of this kind came in 2004 with the launch of the Alternative Provider of Medical Services (APMS) contracts for GPs that introduced the possibility of their practices being sold on to other companies.

Stephen Timms, Labour MP for East Ham, told Newham Voices: “We have to be clear about what is the basis for this decision, and if there are grounds for blocking such a transfer.”

He will take part in a meeting between the responsible oversight body, the Newham Clinical Commissioning Group, and councillors and the campaign groups Newham Save Our NHS which will ask searching questions over the level of scrutiny of the transfer of ownership and the wider implications of selling GP care to a profit-led American corporation.

Members of the Inner North East London Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which oversees health service management in the area, were told last month that the transfer had been agreed, without discussion, through “chair’s action” by local Primary Care Commissioning Committees – including Newham – “due to the focus on managing the pandemic”.

An explanatory email seen by Newham Voices and sent to the scrutiny committee members said that there was “no legal or contractual basis… to reject the transfer of control…”

The email warns that to have rejected the transfer of AT Medics “would have posed a risk to continuity of high quality of care for local residents.”

However, at no point does the email refer to the fact that Centene Corporation, a health insurer and one of the America’s richest 50 companies, will be the ultimate owner. This company has annual income of around £80bn, and is itself controversial with 100s of legal battles being fought over its business practices and quality of care in states such as California, Iowa, Washington State and Texas.

A report in the Guardian (February 26) said the change of control for eight practices in the London boroughs of Camden, Islington and Haringey was confirmed in a virtual meeting on 17 December that lasted less than nine minutes, during which no mention was made of Centene and not a single question was asked. According to a briefing paper submitted to Camden Council in April, leading UK and American experts said there was a lack of openness and transparency, and even misrepresentation, in the way the transfer was handled (see https://allysonpollock.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/AP_2021_Pollock_CenteneGPSurgeries_BriefingNote.pdf).

Newham GP surgeries affected by the change are:

• Albert Road Practice, North Woolwich

• Pontoon Dock Practice, North Woolwich

• Carpenters Practice, High Street, Stratford

• Church Road Practice, Manor Park

• St Luke’s Practice, Canning Town

• Lucas Avenue Practice, Plaistow

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.