Save the date: Wednesday 2nd April 2025, Ramside Hall.

Save the date: Wednesday 2nd April 2025, Ramside Hall.

The first Primary Care Collaborative conference will take place on the morning of Wednesday 2nd April 2025 at Ramside Hall Hotel. The healthcare landscape is changing, and the challenges placed on primary care professionals are mounting. Challenging times call for effective leadership and a collaborative approach, to steer a route through Government reform, funding pressures,…

Optimising access to patient records: NCRS expansion pilot update 

Optimising access to patient records: NCRS expansion pilot update 

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…

“We want to hear directly from the people working on the ground—how does it feel, what’s working, and where are the challenges?”

“We want to hear directly from the people working on the ground—how does it feel, what’s working, and where are the challenges?”

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…

We need your views to inform the Primary Care Workforce Strategy.

We need your views to inform the Primary Care Workforce Strategy.

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,…

NGPS’s Joanna Vintis receives Queens Nurse award for services to primary care nursing.

NGPS’s Joanna Vintis receives Queens Nurse award for services to primary care nursing.

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…

“Improved patient experience and continuity of care can only be delivered through timely, appropriate and relevant access to patient records.”

“Improved patient experience and continuity of care can only be delivered through timely, appropriate and relevant access to patient records.”

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…

Happy 10th birthday to Newcastle’s GP Federation!

Happy 10th birthday to Newcastle’s GP Federation!

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…

Tees Valley GPs set to RISE

Tees Valley GPs set to RISE

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…