SSP Health is a large provider of primary care services in the North West of England, one of only 3 such organisations in England serving more than 100,000 patients.
The firm is run by Dr Shikha Pitalia, who has been a GP in a family practice with her father Dr Saksena and sister Dr Maini in St Helens since 1991, and her husband Sanjay.
It took over 22 practices in Liverpool and Sefton in 2013, adding to the 17 practices it was already running. The contract was worth £26.7 million over three years. 5 of the contracts were renewed in 2016. The secretary of Liverpool Local Medical Committee described the contracts in May 2016 as “unworkable” and said they did not “stack up financially”.
When the firm first took over the practices, many of them were already struggling due to poor management and funding previously. The firm was forced to employ some locus staff as they worked to rectify the problems inherited from the previous contract holders.
Of the 35 SSP practices inspected by the Care Quality Commission in 2015, 32 received a rating of "Good" or higher.