What is the East Staffordshire Primary Care Network?
Primary Care Networks (PCNs) are a key part of the NHS Long Term Plan, with almost all general practices now being a part of a network, typically each network will typically cover 30,000-50,000 patients. In East Staffordshire General Practices have been working together in this way for several years and have developed a strong network covering 144,000 patients. The networks are intended to provide the structure and funding for services to be developed locally, in response to the NHS Long Term Plan and the needs of the patients they serve.
The aim is that practices work more collaboratively and are there to help and support each other.
In practical terms the network aims to help practices to recruit and retain staff; to manage financial and estates pressures; to provide a wider range of services to patients and to more easily integrate with the wider health and care system.
On occasions you may be offered a service at another GP practice if your own practice is unable to deliver that service for one reason or another. You will always have a choice as to whether you take up any such offer.
Who we are?
East Staffs PCN is made up of all 18 practices in East Staffordshire and covers 144,000 patients living in a geographical area ranging from Alrewas and Abbots Bromley up as far as Rocester, and includes Uttoxeter and across to Burton town and the Derbyshire borders.
The network is led by a PCN Clinical Director – and has the guidance and support of 4 dedicated GPs and a Practice Manager from practices within our area through an overarching partnership arrangement. All 18 practices make up the PCN and collectively have input into decision making and implementing decisions and transformation at a local level.
The PCN is supported by a small team, who work with both East Staffs and Mercian PCNs (Mercian is a network of practices from Tamworth) to develop our plans and put them into action.
What is the East Staffs PCN doing at the moment?
The PCN provides services and buys in support that is appropriate to all 18 practices to meet requirements and needs.
Examples of services we ‘buy in’ through the PCN:
• Data Protection Officer and Freedom to Speak Guardian
• Lexacom digital dictation
• HR and Health and Safety support
Other ideas of services to ‘buy in’ include training, medical record storage and purchasing of resources
Examples of current services we ‘provide’:
• Our extended Access Hub appointments, revised evening surgery appoint-ments and the ‘new DES’ appointments that are provided in our core hours and QDR video appointments are delivered by all practices within the East Staffs PCN
• As part of developments being introduced across the NHS, at this point we are looking at introducing different roles across the 18 practices such as clinical pharmacists, social care prescribers (supporting patients with non-medical issues) and a range of other roles.
In the coming year….
The PCN will play a significant role in the emerging Integrated Care Partnership and will work with other health providers to develop new models of working, with new roles to support our work in primary care.
We will also be reviewing additional roles that could be available through additional NHS funding, examples are:
Social prescribers – to support patients with getting help from other organisations outside of primary care – for example from voluntary organisations, local groups, benefits etc.
Clinical pharmacists – working on medication reviews, medication changes from discharge letters, drug monitoring etc
Physician Associates – to support GPs with seeing and triaging patients.
Paramedics – perform specialist health checks and reviews, support the delivery of ‘anticipatory care plans’, support patients living with a chronic long-term condition, undertake acute home visits
First Contact Physiotherapists – to assess patients who might need community physiotherapy
Which roles, how many and where they will be will depend on the decisions taken by the individual practices together as a PCN.
ICB (integrated Care Board)
ICBs bring health and care organisations together in a new way with a greater emphasis on collaboration and shared responsibility for the health of the local population. They present a real opportunity to focus on more joined-up services by integrating care, reducing handoffs, tackling fragmentation and variations in care and outcomes, whilst improving population health and outcomes.
Home – Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB
This information needs to be added to the practice information with it’s own sub heading of Primary Care Network (PCN) and Integrated Care Board (ICB)
We need to add this somewhere on the website under it’s own tab of PCN/ICB please