Today (14 April 2022), Taurus Healthcare is recognising a milestone anniversary and celebrating ten years since its incorporation as a business.

When first established, Taurus operated with just five employees from a small office at Wargrave House Surgery in Hereford. Nowadays, more than 250 staff are employed working within surgeries, in the community, from home and at the organisation’s Berrow’s Building headquarters in Hereford city centre.

Dr Nigel Fraser, one of the founders of Taurus Healthcare and now its Chairman, says:

 "My most vivid memory of the early days was visiting practices and trying to convince them to contribute financially to a new and untested venture. Then, when they agreed, I remember waking up in the early hours in a cold sweat – it was very sobering to receive their trust, but of course with the associated expectation.

"We were a small team who all pitched in, much like wider general practice, and we thrived on the challenge.”

Dr Mike Hearne, another founder of Taurus Healthcare and now its Managing Director, says:

"Looking back over the past 10 years, we have come a long way and can justifiably be proud of everything we’ve achieved. Although we are now a much bigger organisation, we are very fortunate that all of our staff remain committed to making a difference and to improving General Practice for staff and all the patients they care for.”

Taurus Healthcare is the GP Federation for Herefordshire and all the county’s practices are members. Although technically a private limited company, its shareholders are all Herefordshire’s GP practices and the company runs more like a Community Interest Company. No dividends are issued and any surpluses are reinvested into the business for the benefit of Herefordshire citizens and local healthcare provision.

The first service to be offered by Taurus Healthcare was specialist musculoskeletal assessment and treatment for conditions affecting the bones, muscles, tendons, joints and nerves. This was followed in 2014 by the first Taurus-run Improved Access Service, offering GP services outside of normal practice opening hours. To this day, Taurus continues to run the county’s Improved Access Service – now offering bookable appointments at six hubs throughout Herefordshire in the evenings and weekends. It also now delivers the Out of Hours service, providing urgent care to patients as needed.

Over the years, Taurus has established itself as the voice of General Practice. Through its innovative GP Leadership Team, Taurus is able to understand and represent the views of Herefordshire General Practice at a range of important strategic and operational forums.

Taurus plays an important part in the continual professional development and training of all General Practice and Primary Care Network staff through its operation of the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Training Hub. Launched in 2015 and recently recommissioned, the Hub’s major focus is on workforce planning and development, helping to ensure the resilience of General Practice for the future.

Taurus Healthcare also supports Herefordshire General Practice by offering a range of ‘back office’ services, such as Human Resources, Recruitment, Finance and Business Intelligence.

Working with all member practices across five Primary Care Networks, Taurus Healthcare was central to Herefordshire General Practice’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, ensuring GP surgeries stayed open throughout (though operating in a different way), whilst keeping staff, patients and the NHS safe. It was also a major player in the development of the covid vaccination programme in Herefordshire – the largest mass-vaccination programme in living memory - and continues to work with practices to deliver vaccinations.

Taurus Healthcare’s ultimate aim is to help patients have more control over their own wellbeing and healthcare, promote the prevention of illness, and to improve access to general practice so that GP services are consistent 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.