Primary Care Networks - Changing your GP service

The NHS needs to change - why?

The NHS and specifically 'Primary Care' (services at your GP Practice/Health Centre) needs to change. Our population is growing and living longer and more people are living with long-term and mental health conditions, and may need to access more services, more often. 

With current shortages of staff with a growing, more complex workload and higher expectations, the NHS needs to change to ensure it can continue, grow and ensure that what is does is "fit for the future" and providing the right care, in the best place, to meet the needs of patients. 

What's happening? 

One of the planned changes identified in the NHS Long Term Plan has been to encourage individual GP practices to be part of a "Primary Care Network". These networks will typically cover between 30,000 - 50,000 patients - small enough to continue to provide personalised care but large enough to allow for health professionals to work together, across practices, to make more effective use of their resources (e.g. staff, buildings, expertise). 

Networks will be looking at more closely, with community and mental health services, social care supprot, local hospitals, pharmacists, and volutnary and community groups. The intention is to build on existing services to provide more pro-active, personalised, co-ordinated care with improved integration between health and care services. 

Networks will be required to consider how best to provide services that meet the needs of their local community, rather than a 'one size fits all' service across England.

Changes will not happen overnight! 

What will change for patients?

Primary Care Networks offer an opportunity for health professionals, working in networks to begin to plan with a view to doing things differently, providing patients with: 

• Access to more appointments 
• Different ways of accessing a healthcare professional
• Access to a wider range of services closer to home
• Access to a greater range of healthcare professionals 
• Access to more specialised services at a Surgery/Health Centre in your network 
• Better integration of health and care services 

Further information

• NHS England and NHS Improvement Primary Care Networks Animation
• Primary Care Networks explained (The King's Fund) 
• Primary Care Networks (NHS England)