Angry doctors owed thousands refuse to work

Speaking of one recent day, Dr Mark Wells, clinical lead at Brynmawr Medical Practice in Blaenau Gwent said: "I was the only GP - for a practice of 11,000 patients."

He said the surgery should have the equivalent of five GPs.

He said that locums – who temporarily fill GP rotas – "are basically refusing to work because they know they are not being paid".

He called staffing levels "dangerous" and said the surgery had previously closed early because of the lack of clinicians.

"I had 50 patient contacts yesterday - if there were any urgent calls, that would be impossible for me to handle."

Brynmawr is contracted by the health board to two GPs, and the same two GPs run eHarley Street.

Staff in the surgery said they were told a "central management team" at eHarley Street would take care of HR, finance and book locum doctors.

The company's website says it is "putting the joy back into general practice".

It says it offers GPs "practice management solutions" and its "team of experts" believe in "liberating" medical professionals from "managerial burden" to provide "high standards of patient care".

Each Welsh GP surgery is contracted to individual GPs, but all nine in Wales feature on the "our practices" page of the company website. The company also supports 15 practices in England.

Almost all of the Welsh practices are based in the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board area, and there is also one in Cardiff.

In a statement from its solicitors, eHarley Street said it "does not hold any contracts for General Medical Services (GMS) in Wales", but that three partners hold "several contracts" for surgeries that "may have been the subject of the complaints outlined".

It said: "The operation of general practice - is currently under significant financial strain," and that "the surgeries operated by the partners have faced similar challenges".

"While some locum payments have regrettably been delayed, the vast majority have been settled, and the partners are confident that no outstanding payments will remain unpaid."

It said Aneurin Bevan University Health Board had "conducted urgent assurance meetings and practice visits" and found the surgeries were "operating within the parameters of the GMS contract, with no concerns identified regarding patient safety, health and safety, staffing levels, or resources".

"The partners strongly believe that many of the allegations originate from two disgruntled employees, without objective basis or corroboration."

A health board spokesperson said it “does not hold any GMS contracts with e-Harley Street Primary Care Solutions” and that all such contracts were with “named individual GPs”.

The board said: "We are aware of concerns related to a GP partnership within the health board region and are meeting regularly with the GP partners to ensure they are operating in line with their contractual obligations".

"We acknowledge the high demand for primary care services across the country, and this is also experienced here... we are committed to working with and supporting our GP partnerships to provide sustainable and reliable services for our population."