Primary Care Networks

Primary Care Networks bring practices together in order to offer care on a scale which is small enough for patients to get the continuous and personalised care they value, but large enough to be resilient.

They do this through the sharing of workforce, administration and other functions of general practice.

The vision is to provide effective and efficient care for the local population that  is patient-centred and meets the needs of the wider community.

The benefits of PCNs include:

• allowing practices to share resources, expertise, and services
• forming an organisation can bid for contracts to run services
• recruitment and retention of additional specialist staff to support practice GPs
• improved integration of services across practices and the wider health and care system
• improved access of care close to where patients live
• increase in the breadth and range of services available to patients
• sustainability of smaller GP practices (because they can share resources with other practices within their PCN)
• better management of financial pressures and resources
• better management of estates pressures
• reduction of health inequalities
• enhanced health and wellbeing of the local population

A key focus of PCNs is to empower people to live well by supporting them to achieve personal health and wellbeing goals. These include feeling connected, maintaining employment, living independently, raising a healthy child, caring for a loved one, being active in family-life, participating in the community, and contributing to the local economy.

These primary care teams coordinate with local organisations in order to provide integrated health and social care services, including hospitals, pharmacists, dentists, care homes, schools, nurseries, hospices, councils, public health leaders, self-help, community and voluntary groups.

There are eighteen Primary Care Networks across Derby and Derbyshire, and each one is led by a Clinical Director.