Newham Council has approved a two-year extension to its contract with the Newham Health Collaborative (NHC) for GP public health services, valued at up to £850,000 per year. The extension, confirmed on August 5, 2026, will ensure the continued provision of essential health services, including NHS Health Checks, sexual health services, and HIV screening, commencing October 1, 2026. The total value of the extended contract will be £1,700,000.
The decision is subject to a call-in period, meaning it could be reviewed by the Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
The NHC, a federation of all GP practices in Newham, has a strong track record of delivering these services. The report highlighted that Newham has frequently been the top-performing local authority in England for the proportion of eligible patients receiving NHS Health Checks. Performance in Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) and Chlamydia screening has also seen year-on-year increases.
GPs are considered uniquely positioned to deliver these checks due to their access to patient medical records, enabling them to identify and prioritise those at highest risk of developing long-term conditions such as Type-2 Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease. The contract also covers sexual health services, including LARC and Chlamydia screening, as well as HIV screening for new patients and the GP Opioid Substitution Treatment service.
The extension aligns with Newham's '50 Steps' Health and Wellbeing Strategy, supporting efforts to reduce long-term conditions, improve early diagnosis, and promote sexual health. Specifically, the contract extension aims to achieve the following steps within the strategy: Step 12: Reduce the prevalence and impact of long-term conditions on residents' lives; Step 13: Improve prevention and early diagnosis of cancers and cardiovascular disease; Step 14: Support residents to enjoy safe relationships and maximise their sexual and reproductive health; and Step 17: Support residents to recover from the impacts that alcohol and drug misuse have on their lives, their families, and the wider community.
While performance has been strong, areas for development include improving consistency of service provision across different localities and increasing uptake of NHS Health Checks among men and residents of 'White Other' ethnicity. To address these disparities, plans are in place to collaborate with specific community groups, including eastern European and Black African residents. Specific mechanisms to improve service consistency include performance-related payments linked to the establishment of 'LARC Hubs' in each of the four localities. For HIV screening, a jointly held action plan is in place to improve HIV knowledge, awareness, and training for GP staff in practices in the west of the borough.
Alternative options, such as a competitive tender process, were considered but deemed not viable. A competitive tender process was not considered viable because 'There is no genuine competition in the market: A Prior Information Notices (PIN) helped to demonstrate this at the time of contract award (2023) and commissioners are confident that no equivalently qualified provider has entered the market in the meantime.' Residents have expressed a preference for accessing public health services through their GPs, with surveys indicating a majority would prefer LARC fittings via their GP.
The contract extension will be funded from the Public Health Grant within existing approved budgets. Delivery through GP settings provides significant cost efficiencies compared to specialist services, with estimated cost avoidance of approximately £0.285m in 2025/26 alone.
Agenda frontsheet 05th Aug 2026 Officer Key Decision Public reports pack 05th Aug 2026 Officer Key Decision Public minutes 05th Aug 2026 Officer Key Decision