SSP Health
Large North West GP provider with mixed contract history.
SSP Health is the largest provider of primary care GP services in the North West of England. As of 2014 it was one of only three such organisations in England serving more than 140,000 patients.
Quick Facts
- Industry
- General practice
- Founder
- Shikha Pitalia
- Country
- England
- Area served
- North West of England
Facts from the source article.
History
The company was founded in 2002 by GPs Shikha Pitalia and Sanjay Pitalia. By 2023 it employed around 500 people and ran 40 practices treating about 150,000 patients. In 2013 SSP took over 22 practices in Liverpool and Sefton, adding to its existing 17, under a contract worth £26.7 million over three years. In 2016 only 5 of 20 contracts were renewed; the Liverpool Echo described SSP as a "controversial private health firm", and the secretary of Liverpool Local Medical Committee called the contracts "unworkable" and said they did not "stack up financially". Many of the practices were already struggling before the takeover, and the firm employed locums while working to rectify inherited problems. SSP Health pioneered 'federated General Practice' in 2002. In 2023 the NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB awarded SSP a contract to run a Health Centre near Chorley as preferred bidder by a small margin, angering patients; staff said they were "ready to resign". The NHS reversed its decision in February 2023, apologizing for lack of public consultation. SSP threatened legal action against individuals who made "false or defamatory statements". All practices inspected by the Care Quality Commission while part of SSP Health received a rating of "Good" or "Outstanding".
Unsourced information
SSP Health runs 37 GP surgeries linked to 30 practices across 10 NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups in the North West of England, covering areas like Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside, and Cumbria. With around 500 employees and a head office in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan, the organisation looks after about 150,000 patients. In 2004, it introduced the idea of Practice Champions, requiring each practice to have a Cancer Champion and a Carer Champion. Shikha Pitalia created an Acute Visiting Scheme for the company in 2006, which won several awards and later became a template for GP home visits across the UK. In 2009, Pitalia, who serves as Secretary of the British International Doctors Association’s Wigan division, co-founded the SSP Health Charitable Trust with Sanjay Pitalia to raise money for health charities; she donates all her income from work with Wigan’s CCG and GP Alliance to the Trust. During 2019-20, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, 23 of SSP Health’s practices scored 100% on the Quality and Outcomes Framework, with four more exceeding 99%. Shikha Pitalia also chairs the Wigan GP Alliance and is a member of the Healthier Wigan Partnership Board.
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