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Primary Care

About us

The Primary Care Programme has been established to transform London’s experience of primary care. It was originally established to help deliver a new offer for patients with the aim of working with local areas to realise the vision laid out in the London Strategic Commissioning Framework, GP Forward View, Planning Guidance and local primary care strategies. The recent publication of the Long Term Plan and the new GP contract have introduced new areas of focus which have been incorporated into the programme

The Primary Care Programme supports London area sustainability and transformation partnerships (STPs) with the delivery of the next steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View.  It supports the delivery of more convenient patient access to care, a stronger focus on population health and prevention, more GPs and a wider range of practice staff, operating in more modern buildings, better integrated with community and preventive services, hospital specialists and mental health care.

Our aim is to empower, connect and accelerate systems. Our core offer includes:

  • Supporting and working in partnership with London STPs/CCGs to deliver national and local primary care strategies (GPFV, Long Term Plan, local primary care strategies, 19/20 planning guidance requirements) via a responsive and flexible approach
  • Working with all our stakeholders to help shape the strategic direction of primary care transformation
  • To provide clinical leadership and to support partnership working and resilience of clinical leadership across the system
  • Provide specialist expertise to support local systems including supporting the development of plans and trajectories
  • Ensure relevant regional primary care funding allocations are managed and released to the system
  • To identify and maximise opportunities to bring additional primary care funding into London
  • To collate relevant primary care information to understand/measure progress, assure and share data with local systems to support their delivery of associated work
  • To act as an interface with the national team and local teams including making recommendations on national direction of travel and assurance
  • Develop, hold and facilitate forums where regional primary care transformation can be discussed and moved forward
  • Once for London approach – to avoid duplication, reduce burden and to support, where appropriate/beneficial, the establishment of single solutions or operating procedures for London and to disseminate this
  • To work across regional teams such as urgent care, primary care contracting to ensure integration of delivery of work and support to STPs/CCGs
  • To engage and work with a range of stakeholders and partners to align and maximise transformation across London
  • To have an understanding of the London primary care picture in order to:
    • Identify issues/blockers and if relevant then agree regional solutions
    • To identify resources/work needed to deliver against transformation agenda and develop associated plans
    • Identify, hold and share best practice
    • Develop agreed regional guidance and tools
    • Support evaluation, innovation and new ways of working
    • Provide assurance to relevant individuals and teams.
    • Offer bespoke support to local areas where needed and within resources
    • Support agreement of funding allocations and spend working with STPs
    • Improve quality, outcomes and reduce unwarranted variation across London

Find out more about Next Steps resources and toolkits.

You can see the main focuses for our work by clicking the buttons below and if you require any further information please contact the team: england.londonprimarycaretransformation@nhs.net

 

NHS Long Term Plan – Primary Care

The NHS Long Term Plan published in January 2019, sets out a blueprint to make the NHS fit for future. It focuses on prevention, improving services and emphasises the importance of integrating services to make them more effective and efficient. The Plan sets out ambitions to dissolve the divide between primary care and community based health services. Focusing on the delivering of new service models will increase patient choice and provide better support and properly joined up care.

It also describes how the emphasis will shift to preventative care and the closer integration of services in the community.

Key facts:

  • The Plan stipulates an incremental increase in the total national NHS revenue spend that will be allocated to primary medical and community health services over the next five years. £4.5 billion increase by 2023/24
  • STPs/ICs must include a primary care strategy in response to the Plan, setting out how they will ensure the sustainability and transformation of primary care and general practice as part of their overarching strategy to improve population health
  • The Plan actively supports the establishment of Primary Care Networks, with the aim that every practice within England is part of a local PCN by 30 June 2019 at latest
  • PCN’s will be supported in their development and able to access the PCN Development Programme by 31 March 2020
  • The Plan sets out that Integrated Care Systems will be rolled out across England by April 2021. Each ICS will need streamlined commissioning arrangements, typically involving a single CCG for each ICS