THE leaders of the borough council have called for an inquiry to be carried out into the company running four of the borough’s GP surgeries following news that it is being sold.

US medical insurance giant Centene is looking to sell nearly 60 NHS GP practices in the UK, including those in Basingstoke – Camrose, Gillies and Hackwood (CGH) Partnership and the Beggarwood Surgery, which are currently run by Operose.

As reported in the Financial Times, Centene has launched a sale process for its GP subsidiary Operose, which could sell for around £51.2m, according to sources close to the process.

The company also announced that it has sold its network of 53 UK private hospitals run by Circle Health to PureHealth - a company in the Middle East - for £948m.

READ MORE: Centene to sell GP subsidiary Operose following sale of Circle Health

This includes The Hampshire Clinic in Basingstoke.

The Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council leader Cllr Paul Harvey and co-leader Cllr Gavin James have demanded the care board investigate why Operose was allowed to take on the contracts and buy assets.

Cllr Harvey said: “The surgeries have been operating for some time without named GPs for patients and there are concerns that the sale risks even fewer GPs and a further reduction in service. The Integrated Care Board and Operose need to reassure residents that such a serious scandal will not happen.”

The Integrated Care Board is a statutory NHS organisation responsible for the plan to meet the health needs of the population, manage the budget and arrange for the provision of health services. This includes GP surgeries.

In a letter to the chief executive of the Integrated Care Board, Maggie MacIsaac, they said that the news of the sale has caused “considerable alarm” to residents and asked the board to be more transparent when engaging with the residents affected.

SEE ALSO: Basingstoke GP partner reassures patients over possible Operose sale

They also pointed out that the absence of a statement from Operose or its parent company is a signal of a lack of care for the communities it serves.

Cllr James added: “We want to see all local primary care services and assets retained and expanded by local UK-based NHS providers that understand our communities’ needs.”

Despite statements earlier this month from both the Integrated Care Board and a GP partner at one of the affected surgeries, the future of the surgeries remains unclear.