CCP to investigate attempts to close walk-in centre

Private company 3Well Medical, which runs the Alma Road Primary Care Centre, has accused the primary care trust of breaching six of the panel’s principles and rules of cooperation and competition.

In its submission to the panel, 3Well said the public consultation launched by Peterborough in May – which includes an option to close the centre – follows two previous attempts by the commissioner to shut it down.

“The first attempt in June 2010 related to a range of unsubstantiated ‘concerns’ which PCT representatives later admitted was an attempt at ‘trying it on’ to save costs,” the submission stated.

“The second attempt by the PCT followed shortly after in July 2010. This was based on ‘no cause’ and was dropped by the PCT in September 2010 in response to overwhelming opposition by members of the public and local representatives.”

It argued that the May consultation – which closed on 18 August – was “profoundly flawed”, and that although the process had “been administratively – rather than clinically – led, the key clinicians providing advice include two local GPs who have clear financial conflicts of interest”.

It added that the consultation and supporting documentation frequently confused primary and urgent care functions, which contributed to “financial assumptions in the document which are riddled with errors”.

And it claimed the PCT only considered a limited range of alternatives before launching its consultation, which led “local representatives and members of the public to the conclusion that the supporting analysis was designed to support to a pre-determined conclusion”.

3Well argues that the centre is the only one in Peterborough that provides GP care outside of 8am–8pm hours, and over 40 per cent of its patients come from Eastern European countries, where “walk in” facilities are the norm.

Its submission concludes: “The PCT’s recommended option is likely to lead to a service which is worse for patients, restricts access and costs more. It will however reduce competition and therefore protect local incumbent providers.”

The CCP accepted the case on Tuesday (20 September) and is to complete its Phase I investigation by 14 November. A second phase investigation, if required, will be completed by 5 March next year.

NHS Peterborough chief executive Dr Sushil Jathanna said the board was due to discuss the consultation at its board meeting today.

However, since the consultation had closed, “three issues have come to light that the board would like to take more time to consider”.

These included the CCP complaint, a “late submission” from Alma Road and two other practices proposing they merge and move to a single premises, and “comments” from Peterborough City Council’s health scrutiny commission.

“In view of these issues the NHS Peterborough Board will not be taking a decision on Wednesday,” she said. “We will be using the next couple of months to consider these issues and the Board will then take its decisions on primary and urgent care services.”