It is still possible to book to join a large number of PCN leaders at our second PCN Conference on Saturday 8th February, at the ICC Birmingham. This will be an important opportunity to learn about what is happening in networks around England, share good examples and explore solutions to problems. Please see attached the outline programme which is also available on our PCN Support web pages:

https://pcn.bma.org.uk

Following longstanding concerns about the failure of many areas to make proper payment to cover the costs to practices for work covered by collaborative arrangements, at the LMC England Conference, the BMA launched an application for judicial review in Northamptonshire challenging the failure to make any financial provision for child safeguarding services provided by GPs. LMC England have now been informed that our application for judicial review has been granted permission by the Administrative Court, which will be listed in the next few months. 

NHS England and NHS Improvement have published draft PCN service specifications and an accompanying survey (link below) asking for feedback. GPC England will engage with NHSEI in negotiations on the service specifications in the coming weeks and this will be influenced by the responses to the consultation.  We would therefore ask LMCs to circulate the link to the survey to local practices and clinical directors and to encourage them to make their views known as soon as possible through a response.

https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/survey/primary-care-networks-service-specifications/

Following the new Government's pledge to invest more into the NHS, The Times published a series of articles over Christmas, highlighting the workforce crisis in general practices. In response to this a letter Richard Vautrey wrote to The Times and said: "Your important investigation (“One doctor for 11,000 patients in GP shortage”, Dec 21) underlines the crisis in general practice that my colleagues and I at the BMA have been vocal about for years. We do not have enough GPs to meet the needs of our growing population: many people are living with increasingly complex conditions. This inevitably means that some patients are waiting too long for an appointment, which is distressing for people who are ill and frustrating to practice staff, who want to provide the best care possible”.

Richard also spoke on LBC radio last week to discuss OECD research which found that Britain has the second lowest number of doctors per capita in Europe, after Poland.