Establishment of Primary Care Networks (PCNs)

On 1 July 2019, the NHS formally established Primary Care Networks (PCNs) in a significant national reorganisation of primary care.

The NHS formally announced the creation of PCNs in the NHS Long Term Plan, published in January 2019. PCNs grouped general practices in local areas, covering populations of between 30,000 and 50,000 people and led by clinical directors. Neighbouring practices entered in network contracts alongside their core GP contracts, through which they received funding for delivering several core services. The services delivered by PCNs were designed to support the goals of the NHS Long Term Plan, including improving population health, increasing collaboration between practices and supporting the integration of primary care with other parts of the health and care system.

Practices were not obliged to join a PCN but over 99% of GP practices joined a network and there were over 1,200 PCNs by September 2019. The NHS committed in the Long Term Plan to deliver £4.5bn to primary and community services by 2023/24. A significant proportion of this funding was funnelled through the network contracts. PCN funding also went towards employing additional staff under the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, developed in response to chronic workforce shortages in the sector. This enabled local practices to recruit from a range of roles, such as social prescribing link workers, clinical pharmacists, physician associates and physiotherapists.