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What are Primary Care Networks?

Primary care networks (PCNs) form a key building block of the NHS bringing general practices together to work at scale. Building 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.

Since the NHS was created in 1948, the population has grown and people are living longer. Many people are living with long term conditions such as diabetes and heart disease or suffer with mental health issues and may need to access their local health services more often.

To meet these needs, 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.

PCNs are led by clinical directors who may be a GP, general practice nurse, clinical pharmacist or other clinical profession working in general practice.

Bowel cancer screening

The NHS offers bowel cancer screening to help find bowel cancer at an early stage, before symptoms appear.

• People aged 60–74 are invited every two years (in England this is gradually lowering to age 50)
• A home test kit (FIT test) is sent through the post
• The test looks for small amounts of blood in poo, which can be an early sign of bowel cancer

Taking part in screening can save lives. If you receive a kit, it’s important to use it and return it as soon as possible.

When to seek help

Do not wait for a screening invitation if you have symptoms. Speak to your GP practice as soon as possible. Getting checked early gives the best chance of successful treatment.

Watch our bowel cancer awareness video

We have created a short video explaining bowel cancer symptoms, screening, and when to seek help.

 Watch the video here: How to Use the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Kit: A Life-Saving Guide