Norwich walk-in centre firm had "inadequate management"

Norwich's NHS walk-in centre is now under new management, following the collapse of One Norwich Practices

A firm which ran an NHS walk-in centre collapsed because of "inadequate management and financial controls", councillors have heard.

One Norwich Practices, which ran a number of health services in Norwich, collapsed last year owing nearly £1.4m.

Former chairman, David White, told councillors "key financial information was not given to the board".

NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (NWICB) said it planned to carry out a review into what happened.

The firm was handed over to liquidators last month, with financial documents showing that it owed almost £1.4m to creditors.

Norfolk County Council's Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee was told "significant problems" with the company's accounts became apparent in 2022.

Mr White, who became chairman of One Norwich Practices last October, said there had been "serious" discrepancies.

"The board was given reports sometimes with very large overspends, sometimes with very large underspends, but no explanation offered," he said.

"Key financial information was not given to the board, so it was impossible for the board to fully understand the position of the company."

The company's former chairman, David White, said "significant problems" were first uncovered two years ago

The meeting also heard that Mike Stonard, current Labour leader of Norwich City Council, had been the firm's financial director.

Mr White said Mr Stonard had been a non-executive director and did not have "day to day management of the finances", but he "personally strove to improve the financial reporting".

NWICB, which gave the contract to One Norwich Practices, said it had not set a date for a review into how the company collapsed.

Emma Bugg, an associate director of NWICB, said its priority had been transferring services to a different provider.

"It's not something we've chosen to delay," she said.

"It's just making sure that we're working with the right stakeholders to make sure that we get the most benefit from that."