DOCTORS called for lessons to be learned today after a report sharply criticised how a health board awarded GP contracts to a private company.

An Audit Wales investigation criticised Aneurin Bevan University Health Board for not carrying out proper due diligence on the eight GP practice contracts awarded to eHarley Street Primary Care Solutions management.

The contracts were awarded in April 2024, but by 2025 the company had handed back five contracts for the GP services.

The report also said that concerns have been made public about non-payment of locum doctors and supplier invoices, tax payments and NHS pension contributions within specific practices that were managed by the company.

BMA Welsh GP committee chairman Dr Gareth Oelmann said: “The Wales Audit Office report makes clear that Aneurin Bevan University Health Board failed in several areas, which is deeply concerning.

“Patients and staff should never have been put in a position where they were left dealing with disruption and uncertainty because these contracts were awarded without the scrutiny they required. 

“There must now be clear lessons learned, in order to rebuild confidence in these processes which exist to protect patients, safeguard staff and maintain the integrity of general practice in our communities.”

The audit report said: “The health board should have had a greater appreciation of the risk associated with a single partnership taking on so many new practices over a short timeframe.

“It should also have undertaken greater due diligence checks on the partnership’s business model and applied greater scrutiny to its business cases and financial plans.

“While no evidence of fraudulent activity has been identified, the problems experienced by the partnership have caused financial concerns for staff employed by the partnership.”

The Welsh government said: “We have responded to Audit Wales, acknowledging the issues raised and will review and update the current guidance to better reflect the modern primary care landscape and evolving GP partnership and business models.”

A spokesperson for Aneurin Bevan University Health Board said: “We have accepted all of its recommendations, which are already being put in place.

“There is learning to be taken and that further scrutiny could have been applied to financial and workforce plans, and the cumulative risks associated with awarding multiple contracts to a single GP partnership.”