Urgent care company collapse leaves GPs just 10 days to find out-of-hours cover

Urgent care company collapse leaves GPs just 10 days to find out-of-hours cover A number of GP practices are being forced to urgently seek replacement out-of-hours cover after the private company providing services on their behalf gave them just 10 days' notice of ceasing operations.

Primecare, which forms part of the financially struggling Allied Healthcare group, wrote last week to over 20 Birmingham GP practices for which it directly provides out-of-hours cover, informing them they would stop services by the end of the month.

The decison also affects a number of CCGs, which have been told the services they contract from Primecare will cease by mid-December.

NHS Walsall CCG, NHS Sandwell and West Birmingham CCG, NHS Herefordshire CCG and NHS Nene CCG all hold out-of-hours and urgent care services contract with the company, while Primecare also forms part of a wider NHS 111 and out-of-hours contract covering more than a dozen West Midlands CCGs. Pulse