NHS campaigners protested outside the offices of Operose Health in April after the takeover of GP surgeries

HEALTH chiefs are under increasing pressure not to renew several NHS GP surgery contracts which have fallen under the control of a US corporate giant.

Campaigners are calling on the North Central London Clinical Commissioning Group (NCL CCG) to re-tender contracts at Mitchison Road Surgery and Hanley Primary Care Centre, both in Islington.

The Tribune revealed in February how these surgeries had been transferred to Operose Health – a subsidiary of the Centene Corporation in the US – without any public debate or scrutiny earlier this year.

It was part of a deal which saw GP practices around the country fall under the management of the same company, making it the UK’s largest provider of primary care services.

Our stories helped lead to a national debate and questions in parliament over whether the takeover should be spiked – a suggestion not taken up by Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

Contracts for two Operose practices in west London, however, were renewed for just two years instead of a proposed five last week, following protests from patients and a campaign group set up to fight the takeover.

The NCL CCG here was expected to debate whether or not to take the same course of action with the two Islington surgeries yesterday (Thursday), but the situation was not even mentioned during a two-hour board meeting.

Campaigners also missed a chance to grill the NCL Primary Care Commissioning Committee, which approved the original takeover.

The committee had set aside a 15-minute window for questions from the public about Centene during its bi-monthly meeting, but did not receive any.

Campaigners from We Own It had met online on Friday to discuss how their efforts to see the deal scrapped would continue, with a possible High Court challenge in the pipeline.

Anjna Khurana, a patient at one of the surgeries and a Tollington ward Labour councillor, told the meeting: “Seeing the news on the front page of our local paper made me ask, who are they? Why are they buying my surgery, how will this affect my health care? Can I still trust my doctor? And how did this happen without me knowing?

“This is about all of us, this can’t happen in secret, without explanation, we need to challenge it.”

Cllr Khurana is the claimant in the judicial review legal challenge against North Central London CCG’s decision to approve the switch in control. The King’s Cross Road Surgery is also part of the deal.

The campaign’s lawyers will argue health chiefs did not properly inform the public of the major changes and have not assessed the potential for patient data to be transferred abroad as part of the deal.

Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn told Friday’s online meeting: “It is clear what Centene wants access to our private patient data. They care about making profits for their shareholders.

“It is very sad that they were allowed to take over these GP surgeries and we have to fight to get them out.”

Operose Health has repeatedly said it followed legal procurement rules and that patients would not notice any change in the day-to-day service following the change in control from being under AT Medics.

Its statement said: “As a provider of NHS services, care remains free at the point of delivery.

“In addition, and as with all other GP services throughout the country, we will continue to be regulated and inspected by the Care Quality Commission.”

An NCL CCG statement said: “We are committed to offering residents high quality, safe and accessible care. The same high-quality services will continue to be delivered by the same staff at AT Medics practices to residents across North Central London.”