What is a PCN and what do we do?

What is a Primary Care Network?

Primary Care Networks (PCN) offer a new way of organising care, bringing together all local health and care services in a local area to deliver more joined up care to local populations (usually covering around 50,000 people)

When fully developed, PCNs will include:

• GP services
• Pharmacies
• Community health services
• Mental health services
• Adult social care
• Voluntary organisations

NHS Long Term Plan

The majority of PCNs were set up in July 2019 as a response to the NHS Long Term Plan published in January 2019, which proposed a new way of delivering health and care services. It has been driven by the need to create a more joined-up, less fragmented approach to health and care, making it more personal and closer to where they live.

What can you expect from your PCN

Additional healthcare professionals are being recruited to work on behalf on Primary Care Networks.  New roles include Advanced Nurse Practitioners, Clinical Pharmacists, Mental Health professionals and Social Prescribing Link Workers.  By introducing a greater skill mix, local people will get more access to the support they need to keep people healthy and independent.

The ultimate aim is to deliver better health outcomes for the local population, as well as a reduction in health inequalities.

In the future, we will also see doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals working collectively to try to anticipate a patient’s needs, to avoid getting unwell in the first place. This will be part of a wider campaign to make people aware of the importance of taking better care of themselves to avoid future health issues.

Our Vision and Values

West Basildon PCN is comprised of five practices:

Noak Bridge Medical Centre

Laindon Medial Centre

Ballard Walk Surgery

Knares Medical Practice

Kingswood Medical Practice

We aim to achieve and deliver a range of services for our registered patients/local population.  We see that by working together we can survive, adapt, evolve and improve together as general practices, which will have positive benefits for our patients, their families, our local community, and for our staff.  This will be partly achieved through the introduction of new roles into primary care, which will allow us to ensure that our patients see the right person, at the right time, at a venue close to their home.