Efforts to improve patient experience and ensure seamless continuity of care are advancing through the initiation of a new pilot focused on expanding access to the National Care Records Service (NCRS). Led by the North of England Commissioning Support Unit (NECS) on behalf of the Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) and the North East and North…
In September 2024, North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) published its five year Clinical Conditions Strategic Plan, outlining the organisation’s ambitious plans to help people living across the North East and North Cumbria to live longer, healthier lives. In a time of immense pressure on the NHS, this framework is designed to…
The Primary Care Collaborative, supported by NENC ICB, is developing a Primary Care Workforce Strategy. It aims to address challenges and opportunities across General Practice, Dentistry, Optometry, and Pharmacy. Your insights will help us create a practical, inclusive, and impactful strategy. To ensure this strategy truly reflects the voices of the entire primary care workforce,…
In October, as we prepared for our two recent engagement events, we shared a survey seeking your responses to three important questions. We asked what you would like to speak to the (then) brand new Health Secretary. We also wondered about your expectations of what the PCC might be able to do on your behalf,…
Newcastle GP Service’s lead nurse and head of workforce, Joanna Vintis, will be awarded the title ‘Queen’s Nurse’ this week for her years of work supporting the next generation of nurses in primary care. The title of Queen’s Nurse was awarded to just 587 nurses across the UK in 2024 and is only granted following…
Scoping work for a Summary Care Record (SCR) access expansion pilot has begun. The work is led by NECS on behalf of the PCC and NENC ICB. It is looking at the potential benefits and barriers to pharmacy (where some SCR access is already allowed), optometry, and dentistry, (known collectively as POD) gaining view only…
Join this year’s NHS Carol Service being held on Tuesday 17 December at Durham Cathedral, doors open at 6.45pm for the service at 7.30pm. Everyone is welcome to come along so please put the date in your diary. The service provides an opportunity each year for colleagues, past and present, of all faiths and backgrounds,…
Ten years ago, in a Gosforth café, the first seeds for what would become Newcastle GP Services (NGPS) were planted. Since then, the GP Federation has provided a range of services for the people of Newcastle, working with a lot of fantastic organisations. Services include an asylum seeker health provision, cervical screening, community health services…
An ambitious GP retention scheme developed by primary care Clinical Leads working in Tees Valley has just recruited its second cohort of GPs. RISE, which originally launched in June 2023, stands for Retain, Innovate, Support, Educate. Some 15 GPs joined RISE last year, and this year’s cohort is 12. The fully ICB-funded scheme has been…
We at the PCC were really interested in the recent publication of Lord Darzi’s IndependentInvestigation of the NHS in England , and what its content might signify for the future of theNHS, and therefore for our primary care teams. This ‘diagnostic’ review feels refreshing in that it doesn’t avoid calling out difficult issues,warts and all….