A private healthcare provider that runs nearly 60 NHS GP practices in England is being investigated over potential breaches of contract after the NHS learnt that the firm changed ownership before due diligence checks had been completed.
Last December1 Operose Health, a UK subsidiary of US health insurer Centene, agreed a deal to sell its network of GP practices to the private healthcare provider HCRG Care Group.2 This was just two years after Operose acquired the practices when it bought AT Medics in 2021.3
Providers are required under the terms of the alternative provider medical services (APMS) contracts they hold to seek the NHS’s consent before any change of control. After the announcement in December, integrated care boards (ICBs) that hold contracts with Operose said they would be carrying out …
