PCN's
GP practices are working together with community, mental health, social care, pharmacy, hospital and voluntary services in their local areas in groups of practices known as primary care networks (PCNs).
PCNs build on existing primary care services and enable greater provision of proactive, personalised, coordinated and more integrated health and social care for people close to home. Clinicians describe this as a change from reactively providing appointments to proactively caring for the people and communities they serve.
The Federation supports 3 PCNs across the Hinckley and Bosworth Locality, Hinckley Central PCN, Fosseway PCN and Bosworth PCN. This support includes; employing all PCN staff, managing finances, providing IT support and developing systems to implement systems to improve patient care closer to home and achieve national directives.
PCN Roles
Clinical Pharmacists
Clinical Pharmacists work as part of the multidisciplinary team in a patient-facing role to clinically assess and treat patients using their expert knowledge of medicines for specific disease areas. The Clinical Pharmacist can be a prescriber or undertake training to become one. All practice pharmacists should be signed up to the Primary care pharmacy education pathway (PCPEP) to align the education requirements of the pharmacists and pharmacy technicians and the primary care Network Contract Directed Enhanced Service.
We have 17 Clinical Pharmacists within Hinckley & Bosworth and 3 Senior Clinical Pharmacists.
Pharmacy Technician
Pharmacy Technicians will complement the work of the Clinical Pharmacist by using their pharmaceutical knowledge to help patients to get the best from their medicines by switching medications to agreed and approved protocols, improving repeat prescribing processes in General Practice, including promotion of repeat dispensing and online ordering, minimising clinical risk and aiming to reduce wasted medicines. This role will be under the supervision of the Clinical Pharmacist and will be part of a wider PCN pharmacy team.
We have 3 Pharmacy Technicians within Hinckley & Bosworth.
Physician Associates
Physician Associates are healthcare professionals with a general medical education who work alongside and under the supervision of GPs providing clinical care as part of a wider multidisciplinary team. Currently they are restricted on being able to sign prescriptions, fit notes and requests for ionising radiation.
We have 2 Physician Associates within Hinckley & Bosworth.
Paramedics
Paramedics will assess, diagnose, treat, refer or signpost patients and/or service users who attend the surgery with undifferentiated or undiagnosed conditions relating to minor illness or minor injury. The post holder will coordinate telephone triage, taking clinic responsibility for all patients who have requested an urgent appointment. They can also undertake Home Visits or visits to see patients in a Care Home.
We have 4 Paramedics within Hinckley & Bosworth.
Nursing Associate
Nursing Associate is a new support role that bridges the gap between healthcare assistants and registered nurses. The role will be part of the PCN nursing team under the supervision of a nurse.
We have 3 Nursing Associates within Hinckley & Bosworth.
Social Prescribing Link Workers
Social Prescribing Link Workers connect people to community groups and agencies for practical and emotional support and complement other approaches such as care navigation and active signposting.
We have 8 Social Prescribing Link Workers within Hinckley & Bosworth.
Health & Wellbeing Coaches
This is a new role that we have recently recruited to. They will support patients by supporting life changes. The services they offer are tailored to patient needs.
We have 3 Health & Wellbeing Coaches within Hinckley & Bosworth.
Head Office based Care Coordinators
This is a new role that we have just recruited into, with an idea that they will provide support to our Clinical Directors on PCN projects and will collate information where appropriate, facilitate completion of actions and analyse Population Health data to identify potential opportunities for future projects.
We have 3 Head Office based Care Coordinators within Hinckley & Bosworth.
Practice-based Care Coordinators
Our practice based Care Coordinators work closely with the Practice Manager, as well as appropriate staff at the surgery. They will also work with the wider PCN/ Federation team to support the delivery of quality patient services for all of our patients.
We have 4 Head Office based Care Coordinators within Hinckley & Bosworth.
First Contact Physiotherapists
First Contact Physiotherapists can assess, diagnose, treat and manage musculoskeletal (MSK) problems and discharge a person without a medical referral. Those working in these roles within a network can be accessed through direct referral by staff in GP Practices.
We have 1 First Contact Physiotherapist within Hinckley & Bosworth.
Mental Health Practitioners
Mental Health Practitioners provide a lead role in supporting the PCN in triaging mental health concerns raised by on the day patient requests, providing highly specialist advice and support within GP surgeries. They can also review patients presenting with mental health issues, consider a range of options regarding treatment interventions providing them with highly specialised advice concerning care when appropriate and liaising with GPs and MH teams.
We have 2 Mental Health Practitioners within Hinckley & Bosworth.
Bosworth PCN
Bosworth PCN consists of Desford Medical Centre, Heath Lane Surgery, Newbold Verdon Medical Practice and Ratby Surgery and represents 35,209 patients.
Bosworth PCN Newsletter
Fosseway PCN
Fosseway PCN consists of Barwell and Hollycroft Medical Centres, The Burbage Surgery, The Old School Surgery and The Orchards Medical Practice and represents 45,595 patients.
Fosseway PCN Newsletter
Hinckley Central PCN
Hinckley Central PCN consists of Castle Mead Medical Centre, Maples Family Medical Practice, Station View Medical Centre and The Centre Surgery and represents 38,149 patients.