GPs in Wales are missing out on more than £300,000 from contracts that haven’t been fulfilled by a large GP-led company, politicians have been told.
In December Pulse reported on several locum GPs who said they were owed thousands of pounds from eHarley Street, an England-based company which is owned by two GP partners and which helps to run nine practices across Wales.
Welsh politicians have already raised concerns about the company and the practices in the Welsh parliament at the beginning of this month, with Member of the Senedd (MS) Alun Davies saying the ‘failure of eHarley Street is a disgrace’, and that doctors ‘remain unpaid’.
MS for the South Wales East region Peredur Owen Griffiths has now revealed that more than 40 GPs have been affected, with two ‘owed in excess of £300,000 from contracts that haven’t been fulfilled by eHarley Street’.
He told the Senedd last week: ‘This is a scandal, what’s happening with eHarleyStreet in Blaenau Gwent and across the Aneurin Bevan health board.
‘Representing the area, I’ve been in touch with some of the GPs—the 40-plus GPs—that are now being affected by this.
‘I spoke to one GP who’s owed £20,000 in locum wages. Him and his former partner, again, are owed in excess of £300,000 from contracts that haven’t been fulfilled by eHarleyStreet. It shows a worrying pattern of behaviour.’
He also said that he spoke to another GP who is now travelling from Monmouthshire to Pembrokeshire to work as a locum rather than working in the constituency.
He added: ‘At a time when we’re crying out for doctors, this situation can’t go on any longer.
‘This is public money that’s being spent. It has been spent in good faith by the health board, going to eHarley Street but then not paying people. It’s something that needs to be addressed, and needs to be addressed very, very quickly.’
Mr Davies, who represents Blaenau Gwent, also spoke during the debate and said that ‘it’s time to call time on this failed experiment’.
He said: ‘There’s a crisis in Blaenau Gwent and other parts of the Aneurin Bevan health board area. There is a crisis of access to basic GP services, created by eHarley Street, a private company that has been brought in and has failed my constituents, and has failed to deliver services for the people that I and others here represent. But not only are they failing their patients, they’re failing their staff.’
Cabinet secretary for health and social care Jeremy Miles said that he has made his views ‘clear’ to the health board, most recently in a meeting the previous week.
He said: ‘Contractors for GP services should comply with the obligations that they take on. It is unacceptable for staff not be paid.
‘I expect the board to put in place arrangements to ensure that these requirements are complied with, and the board has acknowledged that in the discussions I have had with it. I will be seeking an account from the board of the results of the arrangements it has in place.’
Pulse has contacted the health board and eHarley Street for comment.
When concerns were raised towards the end of last year, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board emphasised that the GMS contracts for the practices are held with Drs Jalil Ahmed and Jonathan Allinson as GP partners, rather than with eHarley Street Primary Care Solutions.
However, GPs and staff told Pulse that day-to-day management of the surgeries sits with eHarley Street, based in England, and the Welsh practices are listed under ‘our practices’ on the company’s website.
In December, the GP partners 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.
In response to criticism of their company eHarley Street in the Senedd at the beginning of the month, solicitors speaking on behalf of the partners said they are ‘in regular contact’ with the health board and ‘actively addressing the concerns’ raised by politicians.
