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A Primary Care Network (PCN) is a group of GP practices in England that work together to provide a wider range of services to a registered population, typically 30,000–50,000 patients. PCNs were introduced in 2019 as part of the NHS Long Term Plan and are funded through the Network Contract Directed Enhanced Service (DES).
Primary Care Networks were introduced in July 2019 as a new layer of organisation within NHS primary care in England. The model groups neighbouring GP practices into networks of typically 30,000–50,000 patients so they can share staff, services, and infrastructure that would be impractical for a single small practice.
Each PCN appoints a Clinical Director and is expected to deliver services under the Network Contract Directed Enhanced Service (Network DES). This includes the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS), which funds new roles such as clinical pharmacists, social prescribing link workers, paramedics, physiotherapists, and care co-ordinators across the network.
PCNs sit between individual practices and the local Integrated Care Board (ICB). They are accountable for population health management, structured medication reviews, enhanced health in care homes, anticipatory care, personalised care, early cancer diagnosis, cardiovascular disease prevention, and tackling neighbourhood health inequalities.
Most PCNs contain between 4 and 12 practices, but the size varies considerably by geography. The defining characteristic is the registered population (typically 30,000–50,000), not the number of practices.
The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme funds new roles within Primary Care Networks — including clinical pharmacists, paramedics, physiotherapists, social prescribing link workers, mental health practitioners, and care co-ordinators. Each PCN gets a fixed budget per year based on its registered population.
Each PCN appoints a Clinical Director, usually a GP from one of the member practices. The Clinical Director leads the network, represents it to the ICB, and is accountable for delivering the Network DES requirements.
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