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Harrogate and Rural District Primary Care Networks

What is a PCN? Kings Fund define Primary Care Networks as:

“Primary care networks (PCNs) form a key building block of the NHS long-term plan. Bringing general practices together to work at scale has been a policy priority for some years for a range of reasons, including improving the ability of 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.”

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What is the aim of PCNs

  • The aim of each PCN is to provide better and more joined up care to all  of the patients within their Network
  • This will be done by working together and focusing on what the population needs
  • As they will be working together they hope to ensure that they are better placed to provide timely healthcare and combat the social difficulties many people face
  • They hope to target several keys areas over the coming years, including early cancer diagnosis, cardiovascular (heart health), enhancing health in care homes and tackling inequalities.

How will they do this

  • They have funding secured over the next 5 years to gradually employ extra staff to support the existing Primary Care Team of GP’s and Practice Nurses
  • This will include a Social Prescriber, Clinical Pharmacist, Physiotherapist, Physicians Associate and Paramedic
  • These extra roles will support Doctors and Nurses and develop to provide healthcare to everyone

How will this change things for me

  • Initially things will still be the same in terms of getting appointments with your GP
  • However over time you may see someone other than your GP for certain things. For example when your medication review is due, it may be more appropriate to see a Clinical Pharmacist for this. OR if you suffer an injury a Physiotherapist may be more beneficial
  • This will hopefully mean you are able to see the right person more promptly and get the right advice quicker
  • By working together practices will also hope to be more resilient and ensure that long term they can respond to challenges of providing a safe and timely healthcare to everyone within the area
Where can I get more information?