Summary
A successful event as part of the PCN Development Programme has taken place with more than 100 people in attendance.
Delegates could get involved in expert-led sessions covering a range of topics related to the GM Primary Care Blueprint.
Refreshing, inspiring and informative are just some of the words delegates used to describe the second day of the Primary Care Network (PCN) Development Programme.
Organised by Greater Manchester Primary Care Provider Board (GMPCB), the PCN Development Programme has been designed in response to needs expressed by PCNs, and in line with the Greater Manchester Primary Care Blueprint, the Integrated Care Partnership Strategy and the national Fuller Stocktake Report.
The second day of this four-day programme took place on Thursday 14 September at The Studio in Manchester and attracted more than 100 people working in PCNs from across Greater Manchester.
Expert-led sessions included ‘Integrated neighbourhood working’, a ‘Whistle-stop tour of primary care finance’, ‘Fairer health for all – Bringing data and community insight to life’, ‘Understanding health and care data and intelligence in Greater Manchester’, ‘Improving access models in Greater Manchester’, ‘Digital inclusion – How to get the most of your digital tools’ and ‘Finding self-compassion in the working day – Building on the good habits of you and your teams’.
Vikas Gupta, a GP and PCN Clinical Director in Tameside, attended the primary care finance session led by Marina Muirhead.
He said: “I think it was a really useful session. It was good to hear from other people and the challenges they are facing with finances. I think finances are the most important aspect of how we run any organisation and the challenges it brings in in terms of how we plan.
“We don’t know what the future holds, so it’s really important to understand the avenues we need to look at and give us insight into how finances are going to be planned and how they will work.”
Barbara Smith, digital and transformation lead for Chorley Roads PCN, Bolton, attended the session on integrated neighbourhood working, facilitated by Dr Joanna Bircher.
Barbara said: “The discussion was really refreshing as it wasn’t necessarily about health and solving medical problems, it was more about how we can do proactive care and look at population health; look at the needs of our population, listen to our patients and the communities as to what they want and what they need.
“This is the first development day I’ve attended because I am new in post and I thought it was a great opportunity for people in PCNs just to get away from their normal day job, to meet other people and to network. But also to listen to innovations that have taken place and just get you thinking about what else we can do.
“It’s been very inspiring to hear the work that’s being done.”
Janet Crofts, managing director of GMPCB, said: “The second day of our PCN Development Programme was another fab event with a great attendance and a real buzz in the room. There are clearly hot topics for PCNs at the moment – improving access models and integrated neighbourhood working were clear favourites.
“People wanted to understand the ‘how to’ and ‘so what’ factors of areas related to the Primary Care Blueprint and learn from each other, so we will develop these aspects into the next event.”
The next PCN Development Programme event takes place on Thursday 2 November. Further updates and a detailed agenda will be published on the PCB website nearer the time.
