Hurley Group

{{short description|British healthcare provider}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Hurley Group

| logo =

| logo_caption =

| logo_alt =

| type =

| industry = Healthcare services

| predecessor =

| founded = 1969 in London, England

| defunct =

| fate =

| hq_location_city = London

| hq_location_country = England

| areas_served = Central London
Harold Wood
Bexley
Erith

| key_people = Clare Gerada

| products =

| owner =

| num_employees = 250+

| num_employees_year =

| parent =

| website = {{Official URL}}

}}

The Hurley Group registered with the CQC as the Hurley Clinic Partnership,{{cite web|title=Legal entitlement of Hurley Clinic Partnership - Care Quality Commission|url=https://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/1-199742634/registration-info|website=Care Quality Commission|accessdate=1 April 2025}} is a large provider of primary care services in London, one of only three organisations in England which served more than 100,000 patients in 2014.{{cite news|title=Dominance of small GP practices undermines push for extended providers|url=http://www.hsj.co.uk/news/primary-care/dominance-of-small-gp-practices-undermines-push-for-extended-providers/5068088.article#.UyN6hYXBeU4|accessdate=14 March 2014 |author1=Dave West |author2=Judith Welikala |newspaper=Health Service Journal|date=19 February 2014 |url-access=subscription}} As of 2025, it runs 2 Urgent Care Centres,{{cite web|title=Urgent Care Centres|url=https://www.hurleygroup.co.uk/urgent-care|website=hurleygroup.co.uk|accessdate=1 April 2025}} 12 GP practices{{cite web|title=General Practice|url=https://www.hurleygroup.co.uk/general-practice|website=hurleygroup.co.uk|accessdate=1 April 2025}} and has over 250 employees, providing a variety of NHS services across London.{{cite web|title=Current Doctor Vacancies|url=https://www.hurleygroup.co.uk/doctors|website=hurleygroup.co.uk|accessdate=1 April 2025}}

Dr Clare Gerada is one of four GP partners in the firm. It was noted during her active campaign against the Health and Social Care Act 2012 that the group could face substantial competition from private providers if they were allowed to compete equally to provide NHS services. Other GPs were reported as complaining that the Hurley Group was "swooping in and taking over in areas where it normally has no business".{{cite news |title=Why Health Bill's biggest critic has a lot to lose from reforms |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/why-health-bills-biggest-critic-has-a-lot-to-lose-from-reforms-6660994.html |accessdate=15 March 2014 |author=Oliver Wright |newspaper=The Independent |date=8 February 2012}}

Expansion of larger organisations like the Hurley Group has been advocated as a means whereby the quality and capacity of primary care services in England could be enhanced, for example by the King's Fund report in 2011.{{cite news |title=HSJ Briefing: general practice services and policy |url=http://www.hsj.co.uk/hsj-local/local-briefing/hsj-briefing-general-practice-services-and-policy/5051162.article#.UyQcDoXBeU4 |accessdate=15 March 2014 |author=Dave West |newspaper=Health Service Journal |date=30 October 2012 |url-access=subscription}} Dr Arvind Madan, partner and chief executive, made a presentation to the Nuffield Trust event "Transforming general practice: unlocking the potential" in May 2013.{{cite web|title=Arvind Madan: The Hurley Group story|url=http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/talks/slideshows/arvind-madan-hurley-group-story|publisher=Nuffield Trust |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421002959/https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/media/arvind-madan-the-hurley-group-story |archivedate=21 April 2017 |accessdate=24 December 2023}}

In June 2014, the group was awarded a five-year £17m contract to provide urgent care centres outside Queen Mary’s Hospital and Erith Hospital by Bexley Clinical Commissioning Group.{{cite news |title=Hurley Group wins south-east London urgent care centre contract |url=http://www.hsj.co.uk/hsj-local/ccgs/nhs-bexley-ccg/hurley-group-wins-south-east-london-urgent-care-centre-contract/5072107.article#.U8QAuPldUk4 |accessdate=14 July 2014 |work=Health Service Journal |date=23 June 2014 |url-access=subscription}}

All Saints Practice, in Poplar, east London, one of the 18 practices in the group, was put in special measures by the Care Quality Commission in April 2017.{{cite news |title=Hurley Group practice put in special measures |url=https://www.hsj.co.uk/7017173.article?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWmpJeE56QXdOVEJpT0RsbCIsInQiOiJwRWNuSENwOExpN0FqS2lJbWsxSkl0MU81eVBvRWdCc2gzVjV2MzNYb21SVDFpazR4YTMxaE9NVFwvUmRNWGNQc2p4amlmUGRWZms4YkhUQXo1emNlY0JEbGZ1clhoYlh0bGN1YzNqdXpWekd2dU9KT2FDT2N2eFpWVTdHUnEzYVwvIn0%3D |accessdate=2 May 2017 |author=Sharon Brennan |work=Health Service Journal |date=7 April 2017 |url-access=subscription}}

In June 2018, the practice announced that it planned to use its eConsult online system for most consultations. This enables patients to submit their symptoms to a GP electronically, and offers around-the-clock NHS self-help information, signposting to services and a symptom checker. 12 GPs are using eConsult and it is planned to recruit 12 more, so patients will only be seen in person where necessary.{{cite news |title=Leading superpractice plans to phase out unnecessary face-to-face consultations |url=http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/gp-topics/it/leading-superpractice-plans-to-phase-out-unnecessary-face-to-face-consultations/20036811.article |accessdate=19 June 2018 |work=Pulse |date=15 June 2018}} 340 other practices are also using eConsult and a majority of the 479 GP practices are expected to have implemented an online consultation system by April 2018.{{cite news |title=Hurley Group revealed as largest provider of online consultations |url=https://www.hsj.co.uk/technology-and-innovation/hurley-group-revealed-as-largest-provider-of-online-consultations-/7023267.article |accessdate=7 September 2018 |author=Rebecca Thomas |work=Health Service Journal |date=5 September 2018 |url-access=subscription}}

During the COVID-19 pandemic in England, the practice reorganised itself into "hot" and "cold" sites, working 12-hour days and offering face-to-face appointments all the way through.{{cite news |title='GP crisis is as serious an issue as Covid': A doctor on why she is furious about the state of her profession |author=Rachel Pugh |url=https://inews.co.uk/news/long-reads/gp-crisis-is-as-serious-an-issue-as-covid-a-doctor-on-why-she-is-furious-about-the-state-of-her-profession-1167646 |access-date=16 November 2022 |work=i |date=26 August 2021}}

It was announced in October 2024 that the Hurley Group had sold eConsult to the digital solutions firm Huma for an undisclosed amount. The software was valued somewhere in the region of £41.5 million.{{cite news|author=Anna Colivicchi|date=2 October 2024|title=Hurley Group partners sell eConsult to global tech firm|url=https://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/technology/hurley-group-partners-sell-econsult-to-global-tech-firm/|work=Pulse Today|accessdate=1 April 2025}}