Navigating new organisation forms: a qualitative study of primary care networks

Area of Science:

• Primary Care Management
• Health Services Research
• General Practice

Background:

• Primary care networks (PCNs) were established by NHS England to enhance population health through collaborative general practices.
• PCNs represent a shift towards large-scale collaboration within primary care settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore General Practitioner (GP) PCN leaders' perspectives on the opportunities and challenges during PCN inception and development.
• To identify key learning points to inform the future structure and function of PCNs.

Main Methods:

• A qualitative study was conducted within the UK's primary care system.
• In-depth interviews with nine GP PCN leaders and analysis of 31 free-text survey responses were employed.

Main Results:

• Four major themes emerged: defining purpose amidst ambiguity, managing bureaucracy versus local autonomy, the significance of relational working, and the role of facilitative leadership.
• Adaptive purpose setting was crucial for balancing local ownership with population health needs and reducing variation.
• Effective relational working and facilitative leadership were identified as vital for PCN success.

Conclusions:

• PCN leaders expressed a strong desire for proactive and collaborative approaches.
• The study underscores the critical importance of distributed leadership and investing time in building trust and effective working relationships within new organizational structures like PCNs.