Healthcare Conference

Welcome and Introduction

James Gransby, Azets

James will be selecting the most topical issues of interest to accountants acting for GP clients. The session will also include a list of things on James’ agenda when he is talking with his GP clients and the feedback he is getting from the front line of client meetings when presenting the 31 March 2026 year end accounts.

Ben Gowland, Ockham Healthcare

Ben will outline the current state of play with the various Primary Care contracts in a session allowing for audience participation and designed to give you plenty of interesting insight to give to your GP clients.

Refreshment Break

TBC.

TBC.

Refreshment Break

Justin Cain, Pinders

This session will provide a clear and concise overview of the key operational challenges currently affecting the pharmacy and GP sectors. He will look at how new funding arrangements and rising cost pressures are shaping performance, service delivery, and strategic planning across primary care. The session will also explore how these market conditions are influencing investor sentiment and impacting yields, offering a snapshot of emerging risks and opportunities for operators and investors alike.

Lunch Break

TBC.

Refreshment Break

Mike Blenkharn, UNW

This session will cover:

• practice profit and value trends
  
• market report, including the large corporate and private equity appetites
  
• sector lender overview
  
• associate self-employment for tax and worker status issues
  
• latest news from the dental financial world.
  

CPD Hours: 6

James is Partner at Azets dealing exclusively with medical professionals and has worked in the sector for over 20 years. James is a regular contributor to industry press articles having written for Pulse, Practice Management, Medeconomics, Independent Practitioner Today, GP Online and Practice Business, amongst others.

Director and Principal Consultant for Ockham Healthcare.

Ben has worked in or with general practice for 20 years, and currently provides support both to individual PCNs, GP federations and to groups of PCNs seeking to work together within the changing NHS landscape. Ben hosts the popular General Practice podcast, and co-authored the 2016 publication The Future of General Practice. Ben has worked in the NHS since 1995. Prior to setting up Ockham Healthcare in 2015 Ben was Chief Executive of NHS Nene CCG, and before that led a GP federation with over 70 member practices in Northamptonshire.

Paul leads Atomos’s healthcare team, where he uses insights from his more than 20 years of assisting medical professionals with financial planning. This includes the NHS Pension, Partial Retirement, 24-Hour Retirement, Ill-Health Retirement and personal planning including protection, mortgages, investments and Inheritance Tax planning.

He works with medical specialist accountants and solicitors to ensure he and his team have up-to-the-minute knowledge of the issues faced by clients. His advice in this area is highly regarded and he is regularly invited to give talks to trusts, practices and local medical committees, along with recording podcasts and webinars on the ongoing complexities of the NHS Pension.

Rachel has been advising GP practices for over 15 years. She heads up the healthcare litigation team at VWV and routinely advises on partnership disputes, disputes with commissioners (including financial disputes and allegations of contractual breach), disputes with landlords (including disputes with CHP and NHS PS over service charges), judicial review, challenging the CQC, procurement challenges, fitness to practise/performers list action and general commercial litigation.

Rachel is part of a wider healthcare team at VWV which covers the whole range of services to primary care and includes experts on partnership agreements, mergers, property matters, employment issues, insolvency and tax.

Rebecca is a Chartered Accountant, lecturer, and author specialising in tax. After training with a top‑20 firm, she worked as a chief accountant in industry before returning as a Training Manager to oversee graduate development and CPD. She later established her own practice alongside a tax training and writing business, delivering lectures across the UK to accountants, businesses, HMRC, and Treasury staff. Rebecca has been involved in the MTD project since 2016, serves on the Administrative Burdens Advisory Board, and was awarded an MBE in 2012 for services to the tax profession.

Mike, who is a Chartered Certified Accountant and Head of Dental at UNW LLP, has over 10 years of experience in working with dental professionals. Mike has overall responsibility for over 500 practice clients and is actively involved in advising clients in respect of accounts, practice purchases/sales and restructuring.

Alongside his dental accounting experience, Mike has a wealth of experience in NHS contracts, net pensionable earnings, tax affairs, exit strategies and retirement planning. He is also a member of NASDAL (National Association of Specialist Dental Accountants and Lawyers) and ASPD (Association of Specialist Providers to Dentistry) and regularly provides accounting and taxation updates to national specialist healthcare lenders.

Mike is the editor of the quarterly NASDAL goodwill survey which analyses all member client practice sales, purchases and valuations.