Virgin Care

Virgin Care
Industry Health care, Social care
Founded March 2010
Headquarters United Kingdom
Owner Virgin Group
Website virgincare.co.uk

Virgin Care is a private provider of services to the National Health Service in England. It owns 24 GP-led provider companies that provide NHS services through networks of GP surgeries; and community-based NHS services. [1]

History

The company was known as Assura Medical from March 2010 until March 2012. It originated as a division of Assura Group and a majority share was purchased by Virgin Group in 2010, setting it up as a separate company.[2] Until October 2012 each GP provider company was 50% owned by the surgery GPs and 50% by Virgin; each GP provider company was run by a board consisting of locally elected GPs and one Virgin representative. 358 surgeries were listed as being involved in mid-2012. In October 2012 the company announced that it would be taking over all jointly owned GP-provider companies, in order to avoid any conflict of interest arising in respect of contracts with clinical commissioning groups.[3]

Contracts

In 2012, Virgin Care won a contract to provide services in Dorset, at the Lyme Regis Centre, for five years.[4]

Virgin Care has a contract to provide community health services in Surrey from 2012 until 2017.[5] This includes the Jarvis Breast Centre in Guildford, which in October 2014 was subject to an investigation by North West Surrey Clinical Commissioning Group after 35 patients were not tested within two weeks of their GP referrals during April and July.[6]

Virgin Care runs the Urgent Care Centre at Croydon University Hospital under a £6 million contract for three years that started from April 2012.[7]

The company won a 7 year contract worth £270 million for providing long-term and elderly care for about 38,000 people with long term health conditions in East Staffordshire in March 2015.[8]

Community services in part of Kent, previously provided by Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust were transferred to Virgin Care by Swale CCG and Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley CCG in January 2016 in a contract for £18 million a year for the next seven years from April 2016 with an option to extend by a further three years. [9]

At the start of 2016 the company was said to have nearly 330 NHS contracts.

In October 2012, a mother of two children mounted a challenge in the High Court against Devon County Council's decision to award health and social care contracts to Virgin Care.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Virgin Care Ltd". NHS For Sale. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  2. ↑ http://www.virgincare.co.uk/about-us/our-history/
  3. ↑ "Virgin Care Ltd". NHS For Sale. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  4. ↑ http://www.hsj.co.uk/hsj-local/pcts/dorset-pct/virgin-care-wins-medical-centre-contract/5049900.article
  5. ↑ http://www.nwsurreyccg.nhs.uk/what-we-do/WHoWeWorkWith/Pages/VirginCare.aspx
  6. ↑ "Virgin clinic probed over 'large number' of waiting time breaches". Health Service Journal. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  7. ↑ http://insidecroydon.com/2013/11/21/watchdog-demands-urgent-meeting-with-virgin-over-mayday/
  8. ↑ "Virgin Healthcare handed £270 million contract for long-term care in East Staffordshire". Burton Mail. 31 March 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  9. ↑ "Virgin Care takes over Sheppey and Sittingbourne hospitals". Kent on line. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "Mother challenges Virgin Care takeover of mental health service". The Guardian. London.
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