22 November 2007
Hundreds of GPs across the country are forming joint venture partnerships with Assura to form provider organisations and deliver community based care closer to their patients.
Assura’s medical division has formed eight GP Provider Companies (GPCos) with over 462 GPs (115 GP practices) to provide out-patient and diagnostic services to patients in a primary care and community setting.
These joint venture groups serve a patient population of around 1m. Patient services have commenced in Bath & North East Somerset, Liverpool and Macclesfield, with more expected to come on stream over the next few months. We are on target to have 1.5m patients by the end of this year and 5m by the end of 2010.
At the same time Assura is accelerating its investment in new primary care and pharmacy premises and will have committed over £535m into 140 health centres and 20 new pharmacies by the end of this year.
In many cases these will replace largely outdated, inadequate and cramped older premises and provide modern spacious facilities for thousands of patients and more efficient and comfortable working conditions for GPs and staff.
More are in the pipeline with work starting or about to start on at least another 10 more primary care centres and polyclinics and at least 20 more pharmacies over the next 18 months.
Richard Burrell, Assura Group’s chief executive commented: “We are committed to working in partnership with GPs and Primary Care Trusts within an NHS setting.
We are able to offer our GP partners, pharmacists and patients modern, integrated facilities and support systems which are ideally suited to the evolving NHS and which will enable GPs to undertake many services which have previously been carried out in hospitals and which now can be delivered more conveniently for patients in the community.”
ENDS
Press enquiries regarding Assura Group and Assura Property to:
Andrew McKeon, AJM Public Relations.
Tel: 01423 734 560; Mobile: 07802 484 155
Louise Bathersby, Assura Group. Tel: 020 7107 3830
This story was also featured in issue six of our newsletter Practice Matters.
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