What is a Primary Care Network?
Primary Care Networks (PCNs) were initially established on 1st July 2019, across England. PCNs consists of groups of GP practices that are in a local proximity. The aims of PCNs are to collaborate with other primary, community care staff and healthcare organisations to deliver integrated services to their local communities and patients.
Take a look at this short animation from NHS England which explains how they work.
Islington Central 1 PCN
Your GP practice is a part of Islington Central 1 PCN and collaborate with the following practices:
- Highbury Grange Health Centre
- Islington Central Medical Centre
- Mildmay Medical Practice
- Mitchison Road Surgery
- Roman Way Medical Centre
- Sobell Medical Centre
- The Medical Centre
The PCN look after more than 61,000 of Islington residents across these 7 GP practices.
The PCN Clinical Director is Dr Patrick McDaid, GP Partner at Mildmay Medical Practice and the PCN Operational Lead is Edel Moallin, who are responsible for the strategy and operations of the PCN.
What benefits do Primary Care Networks have for patients?
• Greater range of services: Patients have access to more diverse care services closer to home, with improved accessibility.
• Integrated care: PCNs collaborate with a wider array of health and community services.
• Support for complex conditions: Patients receive comprehensive support for complex health issues and have access to the necessary health and care services.
• Patient involvement: Patients have a greater role in decision-making regarding their own health and the care they receive.
GP practices will work closely with patient participation groups and the local community to maintain the benefits of Primary Care Networks. It’s essential to listen to patients, as general practices exist to support their health and care needs.
Additional Roles in PCNs
In Islington Central 1 PCN, there is a wide range of roles to support the residents and patients with specialised skills directly into practices along with general clinical knowledge and skills that can add capacity to practice GP and nursing teams.
Clinical pharmacists
Clinical pharmacists work in primary care as part of a multidisciplinary team in a patient facing role to clinically assess and treat patients using expert knowledge of medicines for specific disease areas. They work with and alongside the general practice team, taking responsibility for patients with chronic diseases and undertaking clinical medication reviews to proactively manage people with complex polypharmacy, especially for the elderly, people in care homes and those with multiple comorbidities.
Physician Associates
Physician Associates (PAs) are healthcare professionals with a generalist medical education who work alongside doctors providing medical care as an integral part of the multidisciplinary team. Physician Associates are dependent practitioners who work under the supervision of a fully trained and experienced doctor. They bring new talent and add to the skill mix within teams, providing a stable, generalist section of the workforce which can help ease the workforce pressures that the NHS currently faces.
Mental Health Population Health Nurses
A Mental Health Population Health Nurse is a specialised nurse who focuses on the mental health needs of specific populations or communities. They aim to improve overall mental health outcomes through prevention, education, and coordinated care strategies.
Mental Health Population Health Nurse is employed through Camden & Islington Mental Health Trust.
Social Prescribing Link Workers
Social prescribing link workers connect people to community-based support, including activities and services that meet practical, social, and emotional needs that affect their health and wellbeing. This includes connecting people to statutory services for example housing, financial and welfare advice.
Social Prescribing Link Workers are employed through AgeUK.
Care Coordinators
Care Coordinators play an important role within a PCN to proactively identify and work with people, including the frail/elderly and those with long-term conditions, to provide coordination and navigation of care and support across health and care services.
Care Coordinators could potentially provide extra time, capacity, and expertise to support patients in preparing for or in following-up clinical conversations they have with primary care professionals. They will work closely with the GPs and other primary care professionals within the PCN to identify and manage a caseload of identified patients, making sure that appropriate support is made available to them and their carers, and ensuring that their changing needs are addressed. This is achieved by bringing together all the information about a person’s identified care and support needs and exploring options to meet these within a single personalised care and support plan, based on what matters to the person.