About Us

The Stevenage South PCN (SSPCN) is made up of five independent Medical Groups, these are;

The PCN covers a total population size of just over 65,000 patients.

The PCN management team is overseen and governed by the five core network practices. The leadership team is made up of the PCN Clinical Director, Dr Kolade Daodu, the PCN Manager, Matt Charles and the PCN Operations lead, Dan Taylor.

We have a range of clinical and non-clinical specialists who provide support and care to our patients based on their specific individual needs and requirements.

These roles help to supplement the staff and services already provided through each practice. The PCN will continue to recruit, where possible, subject to need and available funding. PCN staff members also help to support specific services delivered within the practices, one such example is the Covid-19 vaccination programme which has been delivered at two of our network practices (Roebuck and Shephall).

Click here to meet the PCN.

PRIMARY CARE NETWORKS – THE BACKGROUND?

Since the NHS was created in 1948, the population has grown and people are living longer. Also, many people are living with long term conditions, such as diabetes and asthma, or suffer with mental health issues and may need to access their local health services more often.

To meet these needs, GP practices are now working together in groups known as Primary Care Networks (PCNs). These form a key building block of an NHS long-term plan with the aim of providing a wider range of services to patients and to more easily integrate with the wider health and care system.

There are approximately 1250 PCNs across England, each based on GP registered patient lists, typically serving natural communities of between 30,000 to 50,000 people. Now more than 99% of general practices are part of a PCN. They are small enough to provide the personal care valued by both people and GPs, but large enough to have impact and economies of scale through better collaboration between GP practices and others in the local health and social care system.

The main funding for PCNs comes from NHS England in the form of large directed enhanced services payment (DES).This is an extension of the core GP contract and must be offered to all practices. Via this funding networks can employ a range of additional, supplementary, experts including clinical pharmacists, social prescribing link workers, care coordinators and physiotherapists. These experts aim to provide additional specialist support, allowing patients to benefit from a wider range of healthcare services which are based within their GP Practice or Primary Care Network.

The following video from the NHS helps to explain what a Primary Care Network is: