By Richard Johnstone | 19 February 2014
GP practices must join together to form primary care networks if attempts to shift health services away from hospitals and into the community are to succeed, according to the King’s Fund.
In a report published today, the health think-tank said experts had long called for a shift towards more community provision in order to meet the needs of an ageing population and people with long-term conditions.
However, today’s report stated that most GP practices are too small to drive this change on their own and need to work together in federations or networks to achieve the necessary scale.
It called for so-called family care networks to be created to strengthen the role of GPs. This would be underpinned by reforms to the current GP contract, which would see practices provide additional services, including linking up with the work of community nurses, health visitors, pharmacists and social workers to deliver a wider range of care.
King’s Fund chief executive Chris Ham said there was a need for a new funding and commissioning model for primary care so GPs can develop better working practices.
‘At a time when NHS budgets are increasingly under pressure and the proportion spent on general practice is in decline, these proposals could bring money into general practice if GPs take responsibility for providing and coordinating a wider range of services,’ he said.
‘GPs are well placed to do this because of the registered lists of patients, but it would also be possible for trusts providing hospital and community-based services to take on the leadership role, working with GPs as partners.’
The report concluded that powers to implement these changes already exist, but have not been taken on by many GPs, as the changes are often dependent on local circumstances.
A new contract was needed to mandate practices to link up with others, work at scale and focus on the outcomes that providers would be expected to deliver. This would also help ensure a shift towards proactive management of the health of local populations, the Commissioning and funding general practice: making the case for family care networks report stated.
