Skip to content

Calls for inquiry into GP management 'scandal'

Elgan Hearn
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Getty Images A laptop on a wooden desk with a blue stethoscope draped over it Getty Images
There have been an array of concerns raised about GP management company eHarley Street in recent months

There have been calls for an independent inquiry into the "scandal" surrounding an under-fire GP management company.

Safety, staffing and supply concerns at surgeries managed by eHarley Street were revealed by BBC Wales in November, with "potentially catastrophic" shortages and hundreds of thousands of pounds allegedly owed in employee wages.

At a Blaenau Gwent council meeting on 20 February, councillors from all across the political spectrum will put forward a four-point motion which includes calls for an inquiry.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that a GP partnership which used the services of England-based management company eHarley Street had handed back control of several surgeries to Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, including practices in Brynmawr and Tredegar.

Blaenau Gwent councillors previously said that they wanted to meet health chiefs to discuss issues at the surgeries, including residents struggling to book appointments as well as staff not being paid for their work.

The motion said: "The scandal of eHarley Street's involvement in primary care in Blaenau Gwent and beyond reveals how patients, staff, nurses and doctors have been badly let down.

"The non-payment of staff, tax and pensions contributions and suppliers has had a severe and detrimental impact on local primary care."

It continued: "Blaenau Gwent is proud to be birthplace of the NHS and its founder, Aneurin Bevan.

"It was created based on the collective principle of medical care available to rich and poor alike in accordance with medical need, and no other criteria."

It added health inequalities in Blaenau Gwent were "some of the starkest in the UK", with life expectancy below the Welsh average and many people living with poor health and chronic conditions.

"Primary care plays a vital role in early intervention and keeping people safe and well."

The motion said councillors would welcome the resignation of the partnership from all surgeries in Blaenau Gwent for which it holds contracts.

It also urged health minister Jeremy Miles to commission an urgent review into GP contracts in Wales.

The motion is backed by deputy council leader, Helen Cunningham, and her Labour colleagues Peter Baldwin, Sonia Behr, Jules Gardner, Tommy Smith, Jacqueline Thomas, and Lisa Winnett.

The opposition Independent group leader, Wayne Hodgins, has also signed the motion along with John Hill and Lee Parsons from the Independent group and non-aligned Independent councillor George Humphreys.