‘The pressure to reverse the GP takeover must be increased’

• YOUR recent reports and correspondence columns have demonstrated increasing concern about the secretive takeover of Camden general practices by an American health insurance company, whose objectives are far removed from those of the National Health Service.

Members of Hampstead Town & Belsize branch of Hampstead and Kilburn Constituency Labour Party unanimously passed an emergency resolution on March 4 to press for this decision to be overturned.

Operose Health, a subsidiary of the US health care giant Centene Corporation, which provides health insurance to around 25 million Americans, is set to expand its portfolio of NHS GP practices to over 70, by becoming the owner of major primary care provider AT Medics.

This includes acquisition of four practices and four out-of-hours hubs in Camden as a result of a deal agreed by the Primary Care Commissioning Committee of North Central London Clinical Commissioning Group, with no public scrutiny.

The change in ownership brings Centene into the heart of primary care delivery in London, with responsibility for 375,000 patients.

It is significant that the directors of Operose have been heavily involved with NHS England in developing “new models of care”, which feed into the Integrated Care Systems (ICS) to be given a statutory basis under the government’s proposed health reforms, with potential involvement of the private sector.

This development runs counter to the grain of public opinion, a poll in July 2020 showing that 76 per cent of the public wanted to see the NHS “reinstated as a fully public service” against just 15 per cent favouring continued involvement of private companies.

Furthermore it is in total opposition to Labour policy, as expressed in the 2017 and 2019 general election manifestos, to end NHS privatisation.

This position was reaffirmed in Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership election pledges that public services should be in public hands, not making profits for shareholders and to end outsourcing in the NHS.

Jon Ashworth, shadow health secretary, has called in the House of Commons for ministers to block this latest example of “stealth privatisation”.

The pressure to reverse the GP takeover must be increased. Our emergency resolution, which has been sent to the Labour leadership, local MPs and Camden Council calls on:

1. Sir Keir Starmer and Tulip Siddiq, as local MPs, to campaign vigorously against the takeover of general practices in Camden by Centene;

2. Camden Council to use its influence with the North Central London CCG to reverse this commissioning decision;

3. The Labour leadership to continue to press the government to prevent the incursion of for-profit US-based health insurance companies into the provision or planning of health care in the UK;

4. The Parliamentary Labour Party to oppose membership of private sector organisations in the ICS proposed under the government’s NHS reforms and to demand the reinstatement of the NHS as a fully public service.

Officers & members of Hampstead Town & Belsize branch of Hampstead & Kilburn CLP
DONALD BESKINE, CHAIR, JANET GUTHRIE, GAIL BRACKETT, GIDEON GILD, DR ANTHONY ISAACS, NINA PARKER DE AYALA, PAT HOLDEN, SHAHEEN CHOWDHURY, BARBARA WOODHEAD, CARLIE NEWMAN, ANNA BEINHOCKER, CHRISTINA PAINE, JOHN LIPETZ, DR JILL FRANKLIN, MADHAVAN RAMAN, DR EDIE FRIEDMAN, SUE CORBY, PETER SINGER, ROBERTO PIRANI, JANE HINDE, PROF FRANCES STEWART, DR ANNA BURRAGE, PROF ALEXI MARMOT