HUC

What HUC does

HUC (Herts Urgent Care) Limited is a UK not-for-profit social enterprise, founded in 2007 and headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, that delivers commissioned NHS urgent and primary care services across the East and South West of England. Its core service portfolio spans NHS 111 telephone and online triage, the Clinical Assessment Service (CAS), Out of Hours general practice, Minor Injuries Units, Urgent Treatment Centres, in-hours GP surgeries (Luton Town Centre Surgery), the St Albans Integrated Urgent Care Hub, and out-of-hours dental cover via the HUC Dental sub-brand; adjunct services include the Acute In Hours Visiting service for primary care partners and the Early Intervention Vehicle commissioned by Hertfordshire County Council. The technical estate is built around NHS Pathways clinical decision-support software, Adastra and Storm patient management platforms, in-house PowerBI Business Intelligence dashboards, and integration with the SIDeR+ and My Care Record shared-care-record programmes via Black Pear.

HUC serves a population of more than 4.5 million patients through nearly 1,400 directly employed staff and approximately 450 collaborating GPs and clinical professionals, delivered across roughly 35 treatment, access and operational sites in two regional clusters (Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Luton, Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, West Essex; and Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucester, Cornwall). The group operates through three UK-incorporated entities — Herts Urgent Care (HUC) Limited, HUC South West Limited (added via the Devon Doctors Group merger at end-2022), and Access Dental Ltd. Revenue is generated entirely from public-sector contracts with NHS Integrated Care Boards, NHS England area teams, and local authorities; services are free at the point of use and pricing is not publicly disclosed. The company has no parent, no external shareholder, no stock exchange listing and no equity funding rounds; governance sits with an executive Board chaired since April 2023 by Sarah Pickup and led operationally by founder-CEO David Archer.

Name

HUC

Legal name

Herts Urgent Care (HUC) Limited

Website

https://hucweb.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

HUC is a UK not-for-profit social enterprise, founded in 2007, that delivers NHS 111 triage, Out of Hours, Minor Injuries Units, Urgent Treatment Centres, GP surgeries and out-of-hours dental services to more than 4.5 million patients across the East and South West of England, operating from a network of around 35 sites with nearly 1,400 employees and approximately 450 collaborating clinicians.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Urgent and Primary Healthcare Services

NAICS

Home Health Care Services (621610), Home Health Care Services (62161), Offices of All Other Miscellaneous Health Practitioners (621399)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Home Health Care Services (8082), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

24/7 On-Demand Urgent Care Virtual Visit Platforms (HLALAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Virtual Urgent Care & Triage Platforms (HLALABAB), Hospital-Operated Urgent Care Centers (HLAFADAC), Health Systems Strengthening & Universal Health Coverage (UHC) (BPADAIAE), Remote Diagnostics & Point-of-Care (Connected Testing, Home Lab Devices) (HLACAPAK)

Keywords

• Urgent care services
• NHS 111 triage
• Out-of-hours primary care
• Minor injuries treatment
• Urgent treatment centres

Headquarters

HQ city

Welwyn Garden City

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices34 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. NHS-commissioned Integrated Urgent Care and primary care contracts: Multi-year contracts awarded by NHS commissioners (ICBs/CCGs and NHS England area teams) to deliver NHS 111, Clinical Assessment Services, Out of Hours, IUC hubs, Minor Injuries Units, Urgent Treatment Centres, GP surgeries and home-visiting services across the East and South West of England. Revenue is contracted, recurring, and tied to commissioned activity.
2. HUC Dental out-of-hours and dental access services: Contracted urgent dental access and out-of-hours dental services across the South West peninsula (Devon, Bristol, Dorset, North Somerset, South Gloucester) plus dental helplines for Devon and Cornwall, delivered through HUC Dental (Access Dental Ltd incorporated entity).
3. Business support services to other healthcare partners: HUC extends its expertise to provide business support services to other healthcare partners, supplementing core NHS-commissioned income.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

HUC (Herts Urgent Care) is a not-for-profit social enterprise delivering NHS-commissioned urgent and primary care services across the East and South West of England. Its core portfolio includes NHS 111 telephone and online triage, Out of Hours GP services, Minor Injuries Units, Urgent Treatment Centres, GP surgeries, Acute In Hours Visiting and Early Intervention Vehicle home-based care, and out-of-hours dental cover via the HUC Dental sub-brand. Founded in 2007, HUC serves more than 4.5 million patients through nearly 1,400 employees and approximately 450 collaborating GPs and clinical professionals, with revenue sourced from multi-year NHS contracts.

Product overview

HUC delivers an integrated portfolio of NHS urgent and primary care services across the East and South West of England, organised around a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core platform comprises NHS 111 (24/7 telephone and online triage) and the Out of Hours (OOH) service, supported by the Clinical Assessment Service (CAS) module which provides secondary clinician triage within NHS 111. Around this core sit location-based sub-products including Cheshunt Minor Injuries Unit, Luton Town Centre Surgery, Luton Urgent Treatment Centre and the St Albans Integrated Urgent Care Hub, alongside the HUC Dental sub-brand delivering out-of-hours dental cover in the South West. Two innovative primary-care modules extend the platform's reach: the Acute In Hours Visiting Service, which supports GP surgeries with home visits, and the Early Intervention Vehicle (EIV), which treats older fallers at home. The HUC Academy functions as a workforce development layer underpinning all services, while operational integration is delivered through technical connections to NHS Pathways, Adastra, Storm, SIDeR+ (via Black Pear) and My Care Record.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• HUC Dental: A separately branded service line providing urgent out-of-hours dental cover for dental practices and a dental helpline across the South West peninsula (Devon, Bristol, Dorset, North Somerset, South Gloucester, Cornwall), supported by the dedicated huc-dental.co.uk website.
• Access Dental

Products and services

• NHS 111

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 4.5 million patients served across the East and South West of England
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered high - new palliative and end-of-life pathway for luton and bedford, demonstrating huc's ability to co-design new clinical pathways with specialist partners., core - merger significantly expanded huc's south west footprint and service portfolio., core - longstanding partner for nhs 111/999 validation and integrated urgent care across the east of england., core - public-sector commissioner of huc's early intervention vehicle service supporting care home residents., core - acute trust partner working with huc on patient pathways in cambridgeshire and peterborough., adjacent - local patient advocacy body providing independent oversight and feedback., core - community trust partner working with huc on home visiting and patient support., core - data processor enabling huc's participation in the sider+ shared care record programme in somerset., adjacent - icb partner enabling sider+ shared care record participation in somerset. and adjacent - hospice partner supporting end-of-life care in the cambridgeshire area..

• Sue Ryder and Keech Hospicehigh - new palliative and end-of-life pathway for luton and bedford, demonstrating huc's ability to co-design new clinical pathways with specialist partners.Strategic or Co-development Partner · 4 December 2025Collaborated with Sue Ryder and Keech Hospice on a new palliative and end-of-life care pathway for Luton and Bedford. Announced on 4 December 2025.
• Devon Doctors Groupcore - merger significantly expanded huc's south west footprint and service portfolio.Strategic or Co-development Partner · 31 December 2022Devon Doctors Group merged with HUC at the end of 2022, a strategic combination that significantly expanded HUC's South West presence and out-of-hours capacity. Fair Processing Notices for Devon Doctors patients and staff are maintained on HUC's site.
• East of England Ambulance Servicecore - longstanding partner for nhs 111/999 validation and integrated urgent care across the east of england.Strategic or Co-development PartnerEast of England Ambulance Service works closely with HUC on NHS 111 and 999 interface; HUC validates calls coded for 999 services to ensure patients receive the right care at the right time, sometimes identifying a more appropriate alternative to ambulance dispatch.
• Hertfordshire County Councilcore - public-sector commissioner of huc's early intervention vehicle service supporting care home residents.Strategic or Co-development PartnerWorks with HUC on the Early Intervention Vehicle service, enabling many patients (particularly elderly and vulnerable care home residents) to be assessed and managed safely without attending hospital or requiring a GP visit.
• North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trustcore - acute trust partner working with huc on patient pathways in cambridgeshire and peterborough.Implementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSmooth and efficient collaboration with HUC focused on best patient outcomes, with positive patient feedback.
• Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterboroughadjacent - local patient advocacy body providing independent oversight and feedback.OthersWelcomed HUC's commissioning to deliver the NHS 111 service in the Wisbech area and supports the case for a single NHS 111 provider across Cambridgeshire & Peterborough.
• Hertfordshire Community NHS Trustcore - community trust partner working with huc on home visiting and patient support.Implementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerJoins with HUC's Early Intervention Vehicle team to provide kind, cooperative support to distressed community patients.
• Black Pearcore - data processor enabling huc's participation in the sider+ shared care record programme in somerset.Technology or IntegrationActs as data processor for the Somerset Integrated Digital electronic Record (SIDeR+) programme in which HUC participates, enabling shared care records to be available across care settings.
• NHS Somerset ICBadjacent - icb partner enabling sider+ shared care record participation in somerset.Strategic or Co-development PartnerProgramme lead for the SIDeR+ shared care record programme in which HUC participates for Somerset patients.
• Arthur Rank Hospiceadjacent - hospice partner supporting end-of-life care in the cambridgeshire area.OthersFeatured as a partner site alongside HUC stakeholder engagement activity (testimonial video on Arthur Rank Hospice Tour).

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Practice Plus Group: Practice Plus Group (formerly Care UK Health Care) delivers NHS 111, urgent treatment centres, out-of-hours services and primary care alongside a broader portfolio of NHS and private healthcare services. Comparable to HUC as a large-scale, multi-region NHS urgent care provider with a broader commercial footprint.

Direct peers

• Totally (now PSS / Vocare): Vocare (acquired by Totally plc, now rebranded as part of PSS) is a long-standing NHS 111, urgent care and GP out-of-hours provider operating across multiple UK regions. Direct competitor to HUC in NHS-commissioned integrated urgent care.
• Modality Partnership: Modality Partnership is one of the UK's largest GP super-partnerships, delivering primary care, enhanced access and out-of-hours services across multiple regions. Comparable to HUC in the primary care and extended access segments of its portfolio.
• OneMedical Group: OneMedical Group is a primary and urgent care provider delivering NHS-commissioned GP, urgent treatment centre and extended access services across England. Comparable to HUC as a multi-site NHS urgent and primary care operator using similar contract-based commissioning.
• Brisdoc Healthcare Services: Brisdoc is a Bristol-based GP cooperative providing NHS out-of-hours, urgent care and primary care services in the South West. Comparable to HUC as a social-enterprise OOH/urgent care provider operating in a shared South West geography.
• Medvivo (HealthHero): Medvivo, now part of HealthHero, delivers NHS 111, urgent care and clinical assessment services across the South of England. Comparable to HUC as a regional IUC provider using NHS Pathways and CAS-style clinical triage infrastructure.
• gtd healthcare: gtd healthcare is a not-for-profit social enterprise delivering NHS 111, urgent care, out-of-hours and primary care services across Greater Manchester and the North. Closely matches HUC's social-enterprise IUC delivery model and regional commissioning profile.
• Lakeside Healthcare: Lakeside Healthcare is a large GP super-partnership delivering NHS primary care, extended access and urgent care services across the East Midlands and East of England. Overlaps with HUC's primary care and IUC delivery model in the East of England.
• DHU Health Care: DHU Health Care is a not-for-profit social-enterprise provider of NHS 111, integrated urgent care and out-of-hours services across the East Midlands and beyond. Directly comparable to HUC in mission, model, service portfolio and NHS-only customer base.
• Integrated Care 24 (IC24): IC24 is a social-enterprise provider of NHS 111, out-of-hours GP services and urgent care across Kent, Surrey, Sussex and parts of the East. Operates the same NHS-commissioned integrated urgent care model as HUC and is one of its closest direct comparables.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HUCHealthcare
• Facebookfacebook.com/HUCHealthcare
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/huchealthcare

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about HUC