UK news

Virgin enters primary care market

Sir Richard Branson entered the world of GP healthcare having taking a controlling stake in an NHS walk-in centre operator Assura.

 Virgin Group bought a 75.1 per cent holding in the medical division of Assura Group, Britain’s biggest private owner of GP surgeries.

 Sir Richard, who has set up a new Virgin Healthcare business to run the venture, said that Virgin had identified primary healthcare as an opportunity as Britain’s population got older: “Healthcare is a sector that the Virgin Group has been interested in entering for some time but we have always said that the partner and the timing had to be right.”

 Virgin is paying £4 million to Assura, which will loan the money back to the business in exchange for the remaining 24.9 per cent stake in it. Assura plans to concentrate on its more profitable pharmacy and property businesses.

 Assura Medical, which reported a £4.4 million pre-tax loss for the six months to September last year, is one of the pioneers of clinics combining outpatient and pharmacy functions. The loss-making business is part of a growing search for the solution to the overcrowding of the NHS. Assura’s walk-in GP clinics can also include services such as X-rays and some outpatient treatments.  More than three million patients are covered by Assura’s 30 GPCos, which include more than 1,500 GPs.

Source Timesonline