All GP practices in England are now formed into Primary Care Networks (PCNs).
What is a Primary Care Network (PCN)?
A PCN is a group of GP practices based in a local community.
Typically it is a group of practices covering a patient population of 30,000 to 50,000. You will continue to access your GP services in the usual way and will still be registered with your own GP Practice.
What will change for you?
You may not notice much change to begin with, but over time you will see a wider range of services becoming available in your GP practice or at another practice within your PCN as partnership working enables additional services to be developed.
Which PCN are we in?
We are part of the Eden Primary Care Network (EPCN).
The other Practices in our group are: Shap, Kirkoswald, Alston, Court Thorn, Appleby, Temple Sowerby, Glenridding, The Lakes and Birbeck practices.
Our Primary Care Network (PCN)
The new GP contract was published in early 2019 as part of the Long Term Plan. A key element of the new contract is the development of Primary Care Networks (PCNs) which will bring GP practices together with other local services – such as community, mental health, social care and the voluntary sector to look after local populations. PCNs will help to join up services at a local level, focusing on the specific needs of these local populations, with patients still accessing routine GP appointments as they do now.
What are PCNs?
PCNs build on current primary care services and enable greater provision of proactive, personalised, coordinated and more integrated health and social care. Clinicians describe this as a change from reactively providing appointments to proactively providing care for the people and communities they serve. Where emerging PCNs are in place in parts of the country, there are clear benefits for patients and clinicians. PCNs usually have a 30-50k population and are geographically contiguous (next to or touching another). All GP practices in the Eden Valley are expected to sign up to be a member of a PCN. You can read the NHS England PCN FAQs here and view the BMA PCN handbook (March 2019) here.
What are we doing in the Eden Valley?
All ten practices have signed up to being a large PCN that covers all practices and the registered population of Eden. We have a Clinical Director and a management team supporting the set up and implementation of the PCN, working closely with the ten member practices.
In the past year the team have been supporting the delivery of the Covid 19 vaccination programme.
We are currently recruiting new roles to work on behalf of the practices as a centralised team;
- First contact Physiotherapy
- Pharmacists
- Pharmacy technicians
- Physician Associates
- Care co-ordinators
- Social Prescribers
- Occupational therapists
- Dieticians
- Podiatrists
- Health Coaches
Our clinical director and management team
Our PCN is led by a PCN clinical director and three managers:
- Dr Helen Jervis Clinical Director
- Anna M Sives
- Paula Breen
- Amanda Riley
Further information
Watch a short animation that explains the concept of primary care networks (PCNs) and how this new way of working enables health and other services to work together to provide better access for patients.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=W19DtEsc8Ys