Hurley Group

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The Hurley Group is a large provider of primary care services in London, one of only 3 organisations in England which served more than 100,000 patients in 2014. [1] In 2012 it ran 13 practices, had 250 employees and provided a variety of NHS services across London.

Dr Clare Gerada is one of four GP partners in the firm. It was noted during her active campaign against the Health and Social Care Act 2012 that the group could face substantial competition from private providers if they were allowed to compete equally to provide NHS services. Other GPs were reported as complaining that the Hurley Group was "swooping in and taking over in areas where it normally has no business". [2]

Expansion of larger organisations like the Hurley Group has been advocated as a means whereby the quality and capacity of primary care services in England could be enhanced, for example by the King's Fund report in 2011. [3] Dr Arvind Madan, Partner and Chief Executive made a presentation to the Nuffield Trust event "Transforming general practice: unlocking the potential" in May 2013. [4]

In June 2014 the group was awarded a five year £17m contract to provide urgent care centres outside Queen Mary’s Hospital and Erith Hospital by Bexley Clinical Commissioning Group. [5]

All Saints Practice, in Poplar, east London, one of the 18 practices in the group, was put in special measures by the Care Quality Commission in April 2017. [6]

In June 2018 the practice announced that it planned to use its eConsult online system for most consultations. This enables patients to submit their symptoms to a GP electronically, and offers around the clock NHS self-help information, signposting to services, and a symptom checker. 12 GPs are using eConsult and it is planned to recruit 12 more, so patients will only be seen in person where necessary. [7] 340 other practices are also using eConsult, a majority of the 479 GP practices are expected to have implemented an online consultation system by April 2018. [8]

During the COVID-19 pandemic in England the practice reorganised itself into “hot” and “cold” sites, working 12-hour days and offered face to face appointments all the way through. [9]

Related Research Articles

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Family medicine is a medical specialty within primary care that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body. The specialist, who is usually a primary care physician, is named a family physician. It is often referred to as general practice and a practitioner as a general practitioner. Historically, their role was once performed by any doctor with qualifications from a medical school and who works in the community. However, since the 1950s, family medicine / general practice has become a specialty in its own right, with specific training requirements tailored to each country. The names of the specialty emphasize its holistic nature and/or its roots in the family. It is based on knowledge of the patient in the context of the family and the community, focusing on disease prevention and health promotion. According to the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA), the aim of family medicine is "promoting personal, comprehensive and continuing care for the individual in the context of the family and the community". The issues of values underlying this practice are usually known as primary care ethics.

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General medical services (GMS) is the range of healthcare that is provided by general practitioners as part of the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. The NHS specifies what GPs, as independent contractors, are expected to do and provides funding for this work through arrangements known as the General Medical Services Contract. Today, the GMS contract is a UK-wide arrangement with minor differences negotiated by each of the four UK health departments. In 2013 60% of practices had a GMS contract as their principle contract. The contract has sub-sections and not all are compulsory. The other forms of contract are the Personal Medical Services or Alternative Provider Medical Services contracts. They are designed to encourage practices to offer services over and above the standard contract. Alternative Provider Medical Services contracts, unlike the other contracts, can be awarded to anyone, not just GPs, don't specify standard essential services, and are time limited. A new contract is issued each year.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clinical commissioning group</span>

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eConsult is a medical app developed by the Hurley Group.

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The Modality Partnership is a large GP partnership formed in 2009. Such large practices are often described as a "super partnership". According to the King's Fund in 2016 it was one of England’s largest super-practices. In 2018 it had about 400,000 patients and was thought to be the largest practice in England.

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Lakeside Healthcare Groupwhich operates from a number of sites across Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, is one of the biggest General practice / Primary Care Providers in the National Health Service with 80 partners and almost 200,000 patients.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Harding</span> British general practitioner

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The National Association of Primary Care is a membership association for Primary care professionals in the National Health Service and is the primary care provider network of the NHS Confederation.

GP Federations became popular among English general practitioners after 2010 as a means to exploit the opportunities—or mitigate the threats—posed by the Five Year Forward View proposals in the English NHS which envisaged delivering primary care at a larger scale than the traditional GP list. It is widely believed that ‘Practices cannot survive on their own – they have to look at ways of making themselves stronger.’ 15 sites were selected in December 2015 to test new enhanced primary care models serving populations of 30,000 to 50,000 patients. Some, but by no means all, clinical commissioning groups have given financial support to encourage the formation of federations.

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References

  1. ↑ "Dominance of small GP practices undermines push for extended providers". Health Service Journal. 19 February 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  2. ↑ "Why Health Bill's biggest critic has a lot to lose from reforms". Independent. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  3. ↑ "HSJ Briefing: general practice services and policy". Health Service Journal. 30 October 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  4. ↑ "Arvind Madan: The Hurley Group story". Nuffield Trust. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  5. ↑ "Hurley Group wins south-east London urgent care centre contract". Health Service Journal. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  6. ↑ "Hurley Group practice put in special measures". Health Service Journal. 7 April 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  7. ↑ "Leading superpractice plans to phase out unnecessary face-to-face consultations". Pulse. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  8. ↑ "Hurley Group revealed as largest provider of online consultations". Health Service Journal. 5 September 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  9. ↑ "'GP crisis is as serious an issue as Covid': A doctor on why she is furious about the state of her profession". i news. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
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