Locum GPs have told Pulse they are owed thousands of pounds from a GP-led company which runs nine practices across Wales.
GPs have raised serious concerns about the England-based company, eHarley Street, which is owned by two GP partners.
Pulse has spoken to six locum GPs who between them were owed over £32,000, despite having chased their invoices multiple times. One such GP confirmed that they were paid yesterday, after the payment date was pushed back three times.
Another locum GP told Pulse she formed a WhatsApp group of 75 locums who she claimed were ‘affected in the same way’ who had also struggled with delayed payments. Some locums now refuse to work at eHarley-affiliated practices, Pulse has been told.
The GP partners who hold the GMS contracts for the practices admitted to delays in payments, but claimed they are ‘isolated instances’ concerning a ‘small number of GPs’, and that it reflects ‘broader systemic pressures’ on general practice in Wales.
The BMA is currently supporting doctors on this issue, Pulse has learned, and its Welsh GP Committee has urged the local health board to ‘take urgent action to address the safety and governance concerns that have been raised’.
Concerns were also raised at a recent meeting of the Blaenau Gwent Council, where councillors said the eHarley Street management team operates with ‘very little communication’ to practices on the ground in Wales.
Councillor Sonia Behr said: ‘Problems have arisen locally with GPs not being paid and a substantial amount owed – because I’ve been contacted by them – who are then refusing to work further for this management company, which has a knock-on effect on surgeries in Blaenau Gwent.
‘Particularly, I’m aware of my surgery in Brynmawr where for the last three days you’ve been unable to book a GP appointment in the future and when asking why, being told because we don’t know if we’ll have any doctors.’
The councillor also said that GPs not only have concerns about the monies owed, but also about the ‘knock-on effect on services’.
Councillors at the meeting said they had raised this issue with Aneurin Bevan University Health Board and had meetings ‘at the highest levels’ – but they called for more urgent action to be taken.
Dr Samantha Jenkins, a locum who had worked at Blaenavon and Brynmawr practices, said she is owed £9,500 for work completed in September and October.
She told Pulse that as a result of delayed payments she is now travelling two and a half hours to work in West Wales, which she said is ‘quite frankly unsustainable with young children’.
‘The problem is that locally eHarley holds the monopoly on practices so there is little other work available. I have chosen to move out of the area as I cannot put my name and reputation to this company any more.’
Dr Jenkins said her emails to eHarley Street chasing the invoice have been ignored and that despite assurances of payment over recent weeks, she has still ‘received nothing’.
Another locum GP, who wished to remain anonymous, showed Pulse invoices amounting to £10,800 which have not yet been paid, despite the shifts being completed in October.
They told Pulse: ‘I had so far four calls from the eHarley finance and accounting team promising me a payment date within three days of their call.
‘I received no payment at all. This follows more than 10 attempts from me to get in touch with them when they just either didn’t pick up the call or disconnected it before picking it up.
‘I have emailed directly the partners who bear the ultimate responsibility for payments and everything else, no response.’
A further locum GP, Dr Sadequr Rahman, has an outstanding invoice worth £1,480 for work at the end of July at Blaenavon Medical Practice, which was due for payment in mid-September.
He told Pulse that he has had ‘no meaningful correspondence’ from eHarley Street and that he is ‘currently in the process of taking this to small claims court’.
Other GPs experiencing delayed payments
- GP owed £4,240 for locum on call work completed between September and October
- ‘eHarley Street have not come forth with a payment plan or even notification to say why they are not making payments on time or for that matter even informed us that we wouldn’t be paid on time.’
- GP was owed £3,930 for worked shifts completed in October (paid on 3 December)
- ‘I have been phoning them and texting as I have direct debits due on 1st of each month but I have been told I cannot be paid until 2 December.’
- GP owed £2,300 for shifts in July and August, payment for which which was due on 10 September
- ‘Locums like myself are very wary of working for them now. Their company ethos in my experience is not good.’
These GPs preferred to remain anonymous
Dr Mark Wells, clinical lead at Brynmawr Medical Practice, has echoed concerns about delayed payments to locums, and also warned of ‘insufficient clinical cover’ at his practice.
On a Monday in November he was the only GP working for a surgery covering 11,000 patients, he said, supported only by two locum advanced nurse practitioners.
Dr Wells, as well as several other GPs, have raised issues such as this with the health board, as the body ultimately responsible for the GMS contracts.
He added: ‘What’s really upsetting, we’ve raised concerns through traditional ways – health board, Health Inspectorate Wales – nothing is happening at all. The practice is running in a dangerous way. There’s no reply.’
In response to these concerns, the health board emphasised that it has a GMS contract with Drs Jalil Ahmed and Jonathan Allinson as a partnership, rather than with eHarley Street Primary Care Solutions.
A spokesperson for Aneurin Bevan University Health Board said: ‘We are aware of concerns related to a GP partnership within the Health Board region and are meeting regularly with the GP Partners to ensure they are operating in line with their contractual obligations.
‘We acknowledge the high demand for primary care services across the country, and this is also experienced here in Gwent. We are committed to working with and supporting our GP partnerships to provide sustainable and reliable services for our population.’
Solicitors speaking on behalf of the partners Dr Ahmed and Dr Allinson said they are ‘actively addressing’ the delayed payments, which will be settled ‘in due course’.
However, they said claims of issues with clinical cover at the practices are ‘entirely baseless and incorrect’ and that assurance visits by the health board ‘have confirmed there are no concerns regarding health and safety, staffing levels, or resources’.
They also claimed that the ‘dissatisfaction’ expressed by locums comes in the context of recently reduced locum rates, which have been brought down from £1,000-£1,500 a day due to sustainability concerns.
Dr Ahmed and Dr Allinson’s solicitors told Pulse: ‘This financial dissatisfaction appears to be a significant driver behind the grievances and allegations made by certain locums.
‘These individuals’ focus on their own financial interests must be considered when evaluating the validity and objectivity of their claims.’
Locum GP Dr Jenkins said it is ‘very disappointing but not unsurprising’ that the partners are ‘now trying to point the finger’ at the locums ‘for their own failures’.
‘My driver here is certainly not in any way related to the fee itself but simply that Dr Ahmed and Dr Allinson have not attempted to make any payment at all and I am personally owed a significant amount for work already undertaken in good faith.’
GPC Wales chair Dr Gareth Oelmann said: ‘GPCW is very concerned and has advised members to seek support from the BMA and fully supports the doctors who have raised concerns with the health board.
‘We would urge Aneurin Bevan University Health Board to take urgent action to address the safety and governance concerns that have been raised.’
Gwent LMC chair Dr Natasha Collins said: ‘We have advised any affected GPs to seek support from the BMA, and we urge Aneurin Bevan Health Board to act on the concerns raised.’
eHarley Street runs a total of 24 practices across both Wales and England, and it offers a ‘centralised surgery management system by professionals which then allows the GP to concentrate on what’s most important’, according to its website.
Can I suggest that Pulse journalists go on to the companies house website and look at the two GP partners company structures? Nothing illegal but its an interesting model that wouldn’t make me want to contract with them.
72 companies in name of one of those partners, all 72 companies opened in March 2023 in name of same person. HMRC needs to show full weight here
And who created this monopoly by awarding multiple contracts to these same two GPs?
If you are PCN CDs, you can give contract to yourself, no one can question you. In fact if you are in PCN, you can employ all your family members as well on payroll of tax payer. What a rotten system PCN are !!
Can GP contractors really treat their equally qualified GP locum colleagues like this? Looks like they can, and do… If I was one of the GP contractors I’d be ashamed…(is shame still a thing?)