What is a Primary Care Network?
PCNs are a key part of the NHS Long Term Plan. They provide the structure and funding for services to be developed locally, in response to the needs of the patients they serve. PCNs will help to join up services at a local level, focusing on the specific needs of these local populations, with patients still accessing routine GP appointments as they do now.
PCNs are groups of GP practices working closely together, along with other healthcare staff and organisations within the NHS and voluntary sector, to improve the healthcare of our local population by providing integrated healthcare services.
PCNs build on current primary care services and enable greater provision of proactive, personalised, coordinated and more integrated health and social care. Clinicians describe this as a change from reactively providing appointments to proactively providing care for the people and communities they serve. Five of the GP practices within West Yorkshire have joined together to form The Mast Health Partnership. The member practices are:
- Dearne Valley Health Centre
- Kirkburton Health Centre
- Lepton and Kirkheaton Surgeries
- Shepley Health Centre
- Skelmanthorpe Family Doctors
By combining our resources together to for a PCN we have been able to develop and deliver healthcare services tailored to the needs of our local community. This gives our patients better access to the right healthcare and support at the right time.
The various GP Practice teams of The Mast Health Partnership work closely with each other, sharing resources and clinical expertise to deliver healthcare to our patients and develop new services. The PCN aims to continue to improve the quality of care that we provide to match the needs of our local patient population.