Integrated Care Systems (ICS) have a role to support the development of Primary Care Networks (PCNs) as the foundations of out-of-hospital care and building blocks of place-based partnerships, including through investment in PCN management support, data and digital capabilities, workforce development and estates.
In Lincolnshire, PCNs serving the patients of the constituent general practices, are playing a fundamental role to improve health outcomes and join up services. They have close links to local communities, enabling them to identify priorities and address health inequalities. PCNs are developing integrated multi-disciplinary teams that include staff from community services and other NHS providers, local authorities and the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector to support effective care delivery. Joint working between PCNs and secondary care is crucial to ensure effective patient care in and out of hospital.
Our PCNs are working together to drive improvement through peer support, lead on one another’s behalf on service transformation programmes and represent primary care in the provider collaboratives. This work is in addition to their core function and is being resourced by the provider collaborative.
ICSs and provider collaboratives will continue to support our PCN clinical directors, as well as the wider primary care profession, to develop primary care with transforming community-based services. Provider collaboratives are leveraging targeted operational support to their PCNs, for example with regard to data and analytics for population health management approaches, HR support or project management.