Welcome to the April edition of PCC Insight. This is written at a time of change and uncertainty for many of our readers in NHS England and integrated care boards. While change has been a constant in the NHS for some time, the forthcoming 10-year plan, with the drive to care for people as close to home as possible and improve peoples’ health, will make the year ahead particularly challenging. What will be vital is a strong primary care sector, embracing different ways of working, working with local communities, building on, but not being limited on what has been done before.
Our articles include a thought piece on neighbourhoods by PCC’s chair Professor David Colin-Thomé, considerations on delivering care differently by Dr Steve Laitner. An article that shares how eyecare services have enabled care closer to peoples’ homes and a practical article looking at how practices should review premises utilisation with a focus on notional rent. Reflections from a patient perspective on the involvement of patients are provided by Mike Etkind. Finally test yourself on primary care contracting questions as we share questions received through our helpdesk.
David’s article highlights that the government’s plan to develop neighbourhoods presents an opportunity for quality care – through collaboration, as equal partners, between health workers, care workers and everyday citizens. Achieving this at scale requires the application of the science of community development – developing trusted relationships across boundaries and coordinated actions that build community cohesion. This needs to be built on strong primary care foundations that look how to deliver care differently, one model for which is suggested in the article by Steve Laitner. As we go forward there will need to be variation in how care is delivered at neighbourhood level, building on the strengths of services in place, building on primary care networks, collaborations, federations and partnering with wider stakeholders. By co-producing neighbourhood health building on the strengths of local communities change that delivers resilience and better health at a local level could be developed.
This will be a challenge, PCC will support integrated care boards, primary care providers and partners to support a strong primary care sector and develop neighbourhood health in the year ahead.
