Worried residents living close to a GP surgery in Bulwell have said they are "shocked" following a BBC Panorama investigation which made some troubling claims against Britain's biggest GP network. The US-owned Operose Health, which provides GP services to the NHS, has 70 surgeries including five in Nottinghamshire, and more than half a million registered patients.
Panorama reporter Jacqui Wakefield went undercover for the programme, which aired on June 13 at 8pm, and claims the investigation revealed not only a shortage of GPs but also some less qualified medical staff working without adequate supervision and a backlog of patient paperwork. During the programme, a reporter spent time working as a receptionist at one of the Operose Health's 51 London surgery.
While the BBC does not name the practice or the staff, one of the GPs said they were eight doctors short and the practice manager said they hired less qualified medical staff called physician associates (PAs), because they were "cheaper" than GPs. One of Operose Health's five Nottinghamshire surgeries is The Practice St Albans and Nirmala.
