GP records put private equity ownership in the spotlight
The acquisition of Optum UK, the owner of EMIS, a major supplier of GP IT systems, for a reported $400 million (£293.5 million) by the US private equity company TPG has caused alarm according to an article in The Guardian, amid concerns that sensitive health data is increasingly being handled by private companies. EMIS supplies electronic patient record systems to more than half of GP practices across England.
GP practices themselves remain the legal data controllers for their patient records; suppliers of digital systems process data on their behalf under NHS contractual and data-protection arrangements.
The deal was completed in March 2026, and marked UnitedHealth’s exit from the UK primary care software market.
A wider pattern of interest is emerging. Eclipse Corporate Finance, a company involved in the private equity and venture capital sector, noted “continued investor appetite for critical healthcare infrastructure, particularly software assets with embedded market positions, recurring revenues and long-term public sector relationships.” Its review of the second quarter of 2026 said private equity was involved, directly or indirectly, in more than 60% of the healthcare transactions it tracked.
For years, GP practices in England have largely had a choice of just two suppliers for the core IT systems used to manage patient care — EMIS and TPP. Medicus became the first new core IT system for GPs to be approved in 25 years when NHS England approved it in June 2025.
Vision also remains a supported GP clinical record system. In August 2025, OneAdvanced acquired the Vision electronic patient record assets from In Practice Systems. OneAdvanced is backed by investment firms Vista Equity Partners and BC Partners.
In May 2026, Doctolib, a French health-tech company in which investment group Eurazeo holds a 15% stake, acquired Medicus. The deal marks Doctolib’s entry into the UK market, with the company committing more than £100 million to UK expansion, including a London R&D centre.
Private-equity and investment-fund ownership therefore has a strong foothold in the wider GP IT market, not just in two of the core systems. The other dominant supplier, TPP, is ultimately controlled through TPP Group Limited. Companies House continues to §record Frank Hester as owning 75% or more of TPP Group’s shares and voting rights, although he resigned as a director of the TPP companies in September 2025. Hester, a leading Conservative donor, was accused of racist and misogynistic comments about Diane Abbott MP – reported in 2024.
Private equity expands across NHS services
Recent months have also seen private equity targeting other sectors of the UK health and care system, including mental health, elective care insourcing and patient transport.
In patient transport, EMED Group, owned by private equity company Tiger Infrastructure, acquired the operations and assets of Bristol Ambulance EMS in May 2026. EMED is one of the country’s leading patient transport companies and was acquired by Tiger Infrastructure in July 2025 from another private equity company, Cairngorm Capital. The Bristol acquisition meant approximately 315 colleagues, 120 ambulances and operational services across seven depots transferred into EMED Group.
In April 2026 a management buyout of Medicare Insourcing Services was backed by Bay Tree Private Equity. Medicare Insourcing Services is a provider of clinical insourcing services to NHS trusts. Founded in 2018, Medicare is reported by Eclipse to have supported more than 60 NHS trusts and over three million patients since launch.
In mental health, Onebright, backed by EMK Capital, acquired Mindstep in July 2026. Mindstep provides digital mental health screening, triage, personalised self-care and care navigation, and is regulated by the MHRA as a Class I medical device.
Investment spreads through specialist and social care
There have also been significant deals involving investors in companies operating in the social care system.
In April 2026, Eden Futures, backed by Sovereign Capital Partners, acquired Complesso, a specialist provider of supported living services for adults with complex needs. Eden Futures already operates homes and supported living services for people with learning or physical disabilities, acquired brain injuries, autism or mental health conditions.
In the same month CGEN Care acquired St Matthews Healthcare, a specialist provider of high-dependency care and rehabilitation services. St Matthews operates 10 sites across the Midlands and South of England, including hospitals and specialist care homes, and supports patients with complex mental health conditions and other high-acuity care needs across secure and step-down settings. CGEN Care Group is the UK care platform of US family office TL Management, rather than a private equity company. The company acquired Stow Healthcare in 2025.
In June, STAR Capital acquired a majority stake in Glenholme Specialist Care, which provides specialist care services for working-age adults with learning disabilities, autism, acquired brain injury and other complex needs. The business operates 22 specialist services across England, including supported living, residential care and outreach services.
Beyond private equity: the financialisation of care homes
In light of Andy Burnham’s push to reform the social care system, a significant development in the adult care-home market needs to be highlighted: the rapid expansion of the US company Welltower across the UK sector. Welltower is not a private equity company but a publicly listed real estate investment trust (REIT), making it an example of the wider financialisation of care rather than private equity itself.
Welltower owns and invests in a real-estate portfolio focused on older people’s housing and care across the US, Canada and UK. A REIT can generate returns through rental income, property values and, in some structures, operating income from the assets it owns.
The acquisitions began in October 2024, when Bridgepoint, Care UK’s private equity owner, sold Care UK. Welltower’s filings record that it acquired all the shares of Care UK Holdings Limited and related companies on 1 October 2024, while Care UK continued to manage the homes.
In October 2025, Welltower completed a much larger series of acquisitions involving the real-estate interests in care-home portfolios managed by Barchester Healthcare, HC-One, Aria Care (including Asprey) and Danforth Care.
The £5.2 billion Barchester transaction was considered one of the largest care-home deals globally. Welltower also purchased 100% of the equity ownership of the UK property portfolio operated by HC-One for £1.2 billion.
The acquisitions attracted the attention of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The CMA is concerned that the deals could lead to higher prices or a reduction in service quality for care home residents in these areas. As a result of an investigation, Welltower has offered to sell its ownership of a number of care home properties and, for certain other care homes, to reallocate operations to a new operator. In May 2026, the CMA announced that the proposed remedies might resolve its concerns. In July, it moved to a formal consultation on the proposed undertakings, with the case still open and consideration of the remedies extended until 17 September 2026.
Welltower believes there is money to be made from the UK care home sector, noting the potential for “significant long-term growth” and its aim to create long-term value for shareholders.
At the time, Welltower’s acquisitions were aided and welcomed by the Government’s Office for Investment, with Lord Stockwood, UK Minister for Investment, saying: “High-quality care for our aging population is one of the most-important challenges the Government faces and I am glad to see a long-term and highly-respected investor like Welltower continuing to bring its expertise, commitment, and technology to the UK.”
The reality, however, is that these UK care-home assets have been acquired as investments intended to generate returns for Welltower shareholders through a mix of rental, property and operating income. How such private-sector involvement will fit into a reformed social care system remains unclear. Andy Burnham has already spoken about the poor quality of much of the care provided in care homes, the astronomical costs for some, and the profiteering by private equity firms buying up care homes.
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