Takeover raises care deal doubts
Virgin Care’s £54 million-ayear contract to deliver health and care services in Bath and North East Somerset could be withdrawn after its shock takeover.
Councillors, clinicians and staff learned on December 1 the business had been acquired by private equity firm Twenty20 and will be rebranded as HCRG Care Group.
Council leader Kevin Guy said the three-year extension jointly agreed with the BANES, Swindon and Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (BSWCCG) last month was not fully signed and they could pull out.
HCRG Care Group said the announcement was made as soon as possible after the change of ownership was agreed and residents will see no difference in the care they receive, with the same staff and leadership.
Speaking on BBC Radio Bristol, Councillor Guy said: “We were informed of this at the same time as Virgin Care employees. During our entire negotiation period to extend the contract by three years we weren’t made aware of these negotiations, which were clearly going on.
“That’s a disappointment. That’s me using very politically correct language. It’s very likely that somebody made a decision not to inform us of that process.
They would probably say it was to do with shareholder confidentiality. It’s probably not my place to comment as the news is so recent on whether they did mislead us.”
Councillor Guy said the council and BSWCCG were looking at their options. Asked if they could pull out of the deal, he said: “That option is always on the table.”
A BANES Council and BSWCCG joint statement said: “We were told of the acquisition of Virgin Care on the morning of December 1. We now want to carefully consider this announcement and any impact on the contract it may have. We are working together and cannot comment further at this time.”
Virgin Care became the first private company to take over adult social care services when it signed the deal with the council and BSWCCG in 2016. It is responsible for two community hospitals, outpatients’ clinics, school nursing and immunisation services, plus wellbeing services and some social care.
A report to cabinet members said the firm was keen to secure the extension to 2027 - which will see it secure £558million from the public purse over the full 10 years - and it could have challenged the decision if the council and BSWCCG refused. Councillors were told finding a replacement for Virgin Care would be hard and would cost nearly £1million.
Speaking as cabinet members agreed to extend the contract, Councillor Dine Romero said colleagues may have an “ideological aversion to a private business being part of health and care provision” but it was “not the time to make any extreme changes merely on a point of principle”. She said Virgin Care had “stepped up to the plate” during the pandemic.
Health scrutiny panel member Liz Hardman said: “I’ve no doubt that one of the reasons that councillors were not told about the plans is that if we’d known we would’ve raised the strongest possible objection to them and would’ve been unlikely to agree to an extension of the contract.”
She added: “I’ll be challenging the legal basis for this decision.”
Virgin Group has invested £75million into Virgin Care since acquiring it in 2010 but said it had never taken a penny from it, committing to reinvest any returns back into the company and its front-line services.
A spokesperson for campaign group Protect our NHS said: “This latest development confirms all our worst fears.”
HCRG Care Group said there would be no changes to services - its contracts remain as they are.
Virgin Care boss Dr Vivienne Mcvey, who will stay on as chief executive after the rebrand, said: “What is most important to emphasise is that although our owner has changed and our name has changed, everything else remains the same.”