Latest news with #OneMedicalGroup
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Takeover of GP surgery 'concerning'
Campaigners are holding a tug-of-war to highlight what they say is the threat to a community-run, non-profit GP surgery in Brighton from a private company. The Whitehawk surgery is currently run by the Wellsbourne Healthcare Community Interest Company, but it could be handed over to Leeds-based One Medical Group after NHS Sussex started procuring for a new contract. NHS Sussex said it could not comment on the procurement process as it was still under way. Janet Sang, part of Sussex Defend NHS, said the campaign group was "extremely concerned" that an "effective and well-loved GP service" could be transferred to a profit-making entity. "We believe this is... not in the best interests of the people of Whitehawk," she added. One Medical Group, which said it had more than two decades of experience in "delivering high-quality primary care services across the UK", said it could not comment as the procurement process was ongoing. It added it had "consistently delivered [NHS services] to the highest standard across diverse demographics". "We pride ourselves on.... our collaborative approach with local communities, ensuring that healthcare is both reflective and responsive to local needs," it continued. NHS Sussex said it needed to procure a new contract for running the doctor's surgery, which serves around 8,300 people, as the current one has expired. It said the new contract had been designed to meet the needs of the local population in what it called one of the most deprived areas in Sussex. Wellsbourne Healthcare CIC took over the GP surgery several years ago after the previous private provider walked away, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Anger over uncertain future of GP surgery Brighton & Hove City Councillor David McGregor, who said he planned to attend the tug-of-war event, said the Wellsbourne Healthcare CIC had done a "fantastic job" and NHS Sussex should "reconsider". Chris Ward, Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, has started a petition - titled Save Wellsbourne Healthcare - that has more than 3,000 signatures as of 5 June. Sarah Webb, business manager at Wellsbourne Healthcare CIC, previously urged NHS Sussex to talk to the people of Whitehawk. "Listen to residents," she told BBC Radio Sussex in May. Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. Anger over uncertain future of GP surgery NHS Sussex Local Democracy Reporting Service
BBC News
4 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Brighton GP surgery under threat from private company, says campaigner
Campaigners are holding a tug-of-war to highlight what they say is the threat to a community-run, non-profit GP surgery in Brighton from a private Whitehawk surgery is currently run by the Wellsbourne Healthcare Community Interest Company, but it could be handed over to Leeds-based One Medical Group after NHS Sussex started procuring for a new contract. NHS Sussex said it could not comment on the procurement process as it was still under way. Janet Sang, part of Sussex Defend NHS, said the campaign group was "extremely concerned" that an "effective and well-loved GP service" could be transferred to a profit-making entity. "We believe this is... not in the best interests of the people of Whitehawk," she added. One Medical Group, which said it had more than two decades of experience in "delivering high-quality primary care services across the UK", said it could not comment as the procurement process was ongoing. It added it had "consistently delivered [NHS services] to the highest standard across diverse demographics". "We pride ourselves on.... our collaborative approach with local communities, ensuring that healthcare is both reflective and responsive to local needs," it continued. 'Fantastic job' NHS Sussex said it needed to procure a new contract for running the doctor's surgery, which serves around 8,300 people, as the current one has expired. It said the new contract had been designed to meet the needs of the local population in what it called one of the most deprived areas in Sussex. Wellsbourne Healthcare CIC took over the GP surgery several years ago after the previous private provider walked away, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Anger over uncertain future of GP surgery Brighton & Hove City Councillor David McGregor, who said he planned to attend the tug-of-war event, said the Wellsbourne Healthcare CIC had done a "fantastic job" and NHS Sussex should "reconsider".Chris Ward, Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, has started a petition - titled Save Wellsbourne Healthcare - that has more than 3,000 signatures as of 5 June. Sarah Webb, business manager at Wellsbourne Healthcare CIC, previously urged NHS Sussex to talk to the people of Whitehawk."Listen to residents," she told BBC Radio Sussex in May.
The Guardian
23-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
This uproar over a Brighton GP surgery shows how the NHS is slipping into private hands
It came as a thundering shock. Wellsbourne GP practice in Whitehawk, East Brighton, has just been told it is losing its contract. NHS Sussex, the local integrated care board (ICB), is provisionally handing it over to a distant Leeds-based company whose main business is in owning and managing healthcare properties. This is a story about how parts of the NHS can slip away to profit-makers, despite the government's aim to put community first. The company, One Medical Group, won the bid by undercutting on price and proposing to add a walk-in centre. It's not a lone case: some other ICBs erroneously put good NHS community services out for tender, and feel obliged to take the lowest bid. To give you a rough portrait, in 2019 Whitehawk was ranked within the top 10% of England's most deprived areas, and the most deprived in Brighton. According to a doctor from the practice, life expectancy in the area is 10% lower than it is on the other side of the city. The renowned Marmot review on health inequalities and their underlying social causes drew on Whitehawk as a study of deprivation. It's the type of place that needs exceptionally socially committed GPs. It's not, in other words, where you would expect a private company to make money. Indeed, the last private company managing the GP practice quit, leaving services in disarray. The GPs of Wellsbourne now work as part of a not-for-profit community interest company. 'We're here because this is the kind of work we want to do,' said Posy Greany, a doctor at the surgery. Although they would be re-employed by the new company, she tells me they are likely to leave, as 'working for a private for-profit provider doesn't fit with our view of the NHS'. As Greany wrote in a local publication, Sussex Bylines: 'It will dismantle a model that is working. It will scatter a team that has fought to earn trust.' Within days of the news, a petition opposing the handover of the practice gathered more than 2,000 signatures. Wellsbourne is a hive of community activity. It works closely with Whitehawk's food bank, community sports centre and youth centre. Artists run community projects there and volunteers tend to a community garden with patients. All of these services could now be at risk. The Care Quality Commission rates the practice as 'good', in an area where reaching all of the regulator's targets is hard. Here's the puzzle. Andrew Lansley's calamitous system that opened the NHS to 'any willing provider' to compete for contracts was supposedly swept away in 2022, replaced with ICBs that strove for cooperation across all NHS and social services in England. Yet some ICBs still apply the old competitive impulse to NHS services, even though they now have an obligation to ensure that tenders help to reduce inequalities. To be fair, the entire NHS is the under the whip to eliminate its £6bn deficit. The government has instructed ICBs to reduce their running costs by 50% by October this year; the Sussex ICB has to achieve cost reductions of 30% by 2025-26. Some ICBs are fading away. The government has introduced 'integrated neighbourhood teams', but the 10-year plan explaining what these do still hasn't been published. In my decades of reporting, the NHS was always on the verge of, or just recovering from, a major reorganisation. No matter how reasonable these might seem, their true cost is never counted. Re-disorganisations 'take far longer than you think, end up costing far more than you anticipate, and leave you with a distracted and demoralised workforce,' writes the King's Fund policy director, Siva Anandaciva. Cost-saving in Whitehawk may be just one accidental fallout of the 2022 reorganisation. After all, the surgery's privatisation goes against the coming plan to shift health into the community and emphasise social prevention. Greany told me that about 60% of her patients have long-term conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and mental health problems. They have special focused care practitioners giving extra social support. The Sussex ICB told me that national regulations meant it 'had to follow an open procurement process, with the ability for all parties with interest in providing services to this community to submit an application'. Otherwise, its spokesperson said, private companies would challenge them in court. But King's Fund experts told me that there is no obligation for ICBs to tender out existing NHS services – and that they can reject cheaper bids in favour of best 'social value'. The 'social value' requirement sent most private operators into retreat. The large US company Operose has sold its GP surgeries, while Babylon has collapsed. Beccy Baird, a primary care expert at the King's Fund, told me the number of private companies running NHS GP surgeries has fallen by three-quarters since its peak a decade ago: now just 63 practices are run by private companies, amounting to about 1% of all practices across Britain. Labour has stressed its willingness to use private services to clear waiting lists, but this is proving costly. Profits are still being made: just before the election, an ICB let out a huge contract worth up to £1.3bn to the private equity group HCRG Care (once Virgin Care), covering all community services across Bath, north-east Somerset, Wiltshire and Swindon. Meanwhile, long waiting lists are driving patients to buy one-off private treatments. According to the Health Foundation, the overall proportion of privately funded elective operations rose from 7.4% in 2019-20 to 8.3% in 2022-23. Wellsbourne seems to be caught in Lansley's competition-era time warp. With no experience of writing tenders, its current GPs hadn't a hope against companies that have entire teams of people who specialise in tender-writing. The GPs have appealed, and the ICB could still change its mind. If not, they could appeal to Whitehall. Their local MP, Chris Ward, is defending them vigorously. 'I'm strongly opposed to a for-profit provider replacing a local community one,' he told me. 'This is a matter of principal, it's what the Labour party stands for.' If this reaches Wes Streeting's desk, surely he would reverse a decision that flies in the face of his own community policies. Setting that public example would halt other misguided ICBs wrongly still tendering out community services to private companies, and quietly privatising parts of our NHS. Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Anger over uncertain future of Whitehawk GP surgery
Residents have expressed concern that a community-run, not-for-profit GP surgery in Brighton could be replaced with a private provider. Wellsbourne Healthcare Community Interest Company (CIC) currently runs the surgery in Whitehawk, but it could be taken over by Leeds-based One Medical Group after NHS Sussex started procuring a new contract. Patient Liz Mason told BBC Radio Sussex it would be an "absolute travesty" if the GP surgery that had "done so much for the community" was lost. NHS Sussex said it was aware of the concern being raised and would respond as soon as it could. It added that it was unable to comment further as the procurement process had begun. One Medical Group has been approached for comment. 'Why risk it?' Lacey, another patient, said it was vital that Whitehawk - which she said was "let down quite a lot" as one of the most deprived areas in the city - had a GP they could trust. "Things have been running so well for so long - why risk it [the change]?" she told BBC Radio Sussex. "This service is amazing." Wellsbourne Healthcare CIC took over the GP surgery several years ago after it was previously failing. NHS Sussex said the possible change was needed because the current contract to run the GP service for some 8,300 people had ended. Hundreds stuck in Sussex hospitals, BBC told They detailed that national regulations mean the procurement process has to be open, allowing all parties to submit bids that will be fully considered and evaluated. The healthcare provider added the new contract was designed to meet the current and future needs of the local Webb, business manager at Wellsbourne Healthcare CIC, urged NHS Sussex to talk to the people of Whitehawk."There is still time for them to be heard," she added. "Listen to residents and the community here."
Yomiuri Shimbun
03-05-2025
- Health
- Yomiuri Shimbun
The US Has More Than 900 Measles Cases and 10 States Have Outbreaks. Here's What to Know
Reuters A stethoscope rests on a container of hand sanitizer inside of the doctor's office of One Medical Group in New York March 17, 2010 One-fifth of states have active measles outbreaks as confirmed cases nationwide keep ticking up, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC's confirmed measles case count is 935, more than triple the amount seen in all of 2024. The three-month outbreak in Texas accounts for the vast majority of cases, with 683 confirmed as of Friday. The outbreak has also spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas. Two unvaccinated elementary school-aged children died from measles-related illnesses in the epicenter in West Texas, and an adult in New Mexico who was not vaccinated died of a measles-related illness. Other states with active outbreaks — defined as three or more cases — include Indiana, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. North America has two other ongoing outbreaks. One in Ontario, Canada, has resulted in 1,243 cases from mid-October through Tuesday. And the Mexican state of Chihuahua had 844 measles cases and one death as of Friday, according to data from the state health ministry. Health officials in Mexico and the U.S. say all three outbreaks are of the same measles strain. Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that's airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000. As the virus takes hold in U.S. communities with low vaccination rates, health experts fear that spread could stretch on for a year. Here's what else you need to know about measles in the U.S. How many measles cases are there in Texas and New Mexico? Texas state health officials said Tuesday there were 20 new cases of measles since Tuesday, bringing the total to 683 across 29 counties — most of them in West Texas. Three counties recorded their first cases: Hardeman has one, Eastland has two and Upshur has five. The state also added two hospitalizations to its count Friday, for a total of 89 throughout the outbreak. State health officials estimated about 1% of cases — fewer than 10 — are actively infectious. Sixty percent of Texas' cases are in Gaines County, population 22,892, where the virus started spreading in a close-knit, undervaccinated Mennonite community. The county has had 396 cases since late January — just over 1.5% of the county's residents. The April 3 death in Texas was an 8-year-old child, according to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Local health officials in Texas said the child did not have underlying health conditions and died of 'what the child's doctor described as measles pulmonary failure.' A unvaccinated child with no underlying conditions died of measles in Texas in late February — Kennedy said age 6. New Mexico added one case Friday for 67 total cases. Seven people have been hospitalized since the outbreak started. Most of the state's cases are in Lea County. Three are in Eddy County, two in Doña Ana County and one in Chaves County. How many cases are there in Indiana? Indiana confirmed two more cases April 21 in an outbreak that has sickened eight in Allen County in the northeast part of the state — five are unvaccinated minors and three are adults whose vaccination status is unknown. The cases have no known link to other outbreaks, the Allen County Department of Health has said. How many cases are there in Kansas? Kansas added nine cases Wednesday for a total of 46 across eight counties in the southwest part of the state. Gray County is up to 15 cases. The state also reported its first hospitalization. Kansas' health department didn't elaborate Wednesday about a discrepancy in the number of new cases at the state and county levels beyond noting that case counts are 'fluid as the outbreak progresses.' The state's first reported case is linked to the Texas outbreak based on genetic testing. How many cases are there in Michigan? Montcalm County, near Grand Rapids in western Michigan, has an outbreak of four cases that state health officials say is tied to the Ontario outbreak. The state had nine confirmed measles cases as of Friday, but the remaining five are not part of the Montcalm County outbreak. How many cases are there in Montana? Montana state health officials announced five cases April 17 in unvaccinated children and adults who had traveled out of state, and later confirmed it was an outbreak. All five are isolating at home in Gallatin County in the southwest part of the state. They were Montana's first measles cases in 35 years. Health officials didn't say whether the cases are linked to other outbreaks in North America. How many cases are there in Ohio? The state has two outbreaks. Ashtabula County near Cleveland has 16 cases. And Knox County in east-central Ohio has 20 — 14 among Ohio residents and the rest among visitors. The Ohio Department of Health on Thursday confirmed 33 measles cases and one hospitalization. That count includes only Ohio residents. Defiance County in the northwestern part of the state has logged its first case. Allen and Holmes counties have had one case each. How many cases are there in Oklahoma? Oklahoma had 13 confirmed and three probable cases as of Friday. The first two probable cases were 'associated' with the West Texas and New Mexico outbreaks, the state health department said. The department is not releasing which counties have cases, but Cleveland, Custer, Oklahoma and Sequoyah counties have had public exposures in the past couple of months. How many cases are there in Pennsylvania? There are eight measles cases in Erie County in far northwest Pennsylvania, officials said Friday. The county declared an outbreak in mid-April. The state has said it has 13 cases overall in 2025, including international travel-related cases in Montgomery County and one in Philadelphia. How many cases are there in Tennessee? Tennessee had six measles cases as of last week. Health department spokesman Bill Christian said all cases are the middle part of the state, and that 'at least three of these cases are linked to each other' but declined to specify further. The state also did not say whether the cases were linked to other outbreaks or when Tennessee's outbreak started. The state health department announced the first measles case March 21, three more on April 1 and the last two on April 17, but none of the news releases declared an outbreak. However, Tennessee was on a list of outbreak states in a CDC report April 17. Where else is measles showing up in the U.S.? North Dakota health officials on Friday announced that state's first measles case since 2011. Cases also have been reported in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. Cases and outbreaks in the U.S. are frequently traced to someone who caught the disease abroad. In 2019, the U.S. saw 1,274 cases and almost lost its status of having eliminated measles. What do you need to know about the MMR vaccine? The best way to avoid measles is to get the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. The first shot is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old and the second between 4 and 6 years old. Getting another MMR shot is harmless if there are concerns about waning immunity, the CDC says. People who have documentation of receiving a live measles vaccine in the 1960s don't need to be revaccinated, but people who were immunized before 1968 with an ineffective measles vaccine made from 'killed' virus should be revaccinated with at least one dose, the agency said. People who have documentation that they had measles are immune and those born before 1957 generally don't need the shots because most children back then had measles and now have 'presumptive immunity.' In communities with high vaccination rates — above 95% — diseases like measles have a harder time spreading through communities. This is called 'herd immunity.' But childhood vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the pandemic and more parents are claiming religious or personal conscience waivers to exempt their kids from required shots. The U.S. saw a rise in measles cases in 2024, including an outbreak in Chicago that sickened more than 60. What are the symptoms of measles? Measles first infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body, causing a high fever, runny nose, cough, red, watery eyes and a rash. The rash generally appears three to five days after the first symptoms, beginning as flat red spots on the face and then spreading downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs and feet. When the rash appears, the fever may spike over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the CDC. Most kids will recover from measles, but infection can lead to dangerous complications such as pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death. How can you treat measles? There's no specific treatment for measles, so doctors generally try to alleviate symptoms, prevent complications and keep patients comfortable.
