NAPC highlights a new leadership approach is needed for primary care transformation following latest King’s Fund report on primary care homes
The National Association of Primary Care (NAPC) is today unveiling key learning for primary care transformation and primary care network development following the publication of an independent report from The King’s Fund on the spread of the primary care home model - which has informed national PCN policy.
According to the report, primary care homes brought an enabling form of leadership – one that is organic, locally-led, practical, not top down that empowered colleagues and created a culture of compassion and valuing staff.
One person who was interviewed by The King’s Fund said: “... those that are doing really well haven’t got this formulaic synthesised approach. They’ve just done it naturally. They create empowered teams. It’s that simple: practical leadership that makes the difference between a successful primary care home and a maturing primary care home and those that don’t get off the ground”.
The report recommends the insight from the PCH programme is used to encourage the development of leadership capabilities necessary for system transformation at local, regional and national level.
Commenting on the report, Dr Nav Chana MBE, National Clinical PCH Director: ‘This latest report from The King’s Fund draws out some of the key ingredients for successful primary care transformation that we’ve learnt form the PCH model and our experience over the years including from our international partners. The right type of leadership we know is critical - we are supporting PCNs with this approach through our own team-based leadership programme.
‘The report also highlights the importance of building system-wide relationships to improve population health – we know investment in relationships will determine the speed of a primary care network’s progress – and the need to support and encourage colleagues to stay focussed and persevere amid all the current pressures and challenges we face on a daily basis.’
The independent report: Insights from the spread of primary care home - commissioned by the NAPC looks at the factors that contributed to the spread of the PCH model from the initial 15 rapid test sites to the more than 240 primary care homes today.
It tells the stories of three primary care homes: Granta in Cambridgeshire, St Austell Healthcare and Newport Pagnell.
The report identifies seven factors that enabled the spread:
· pre-existing conditions for change (understanding the local context)
· sparking action (three components: a motivation to act, a compelling case for change and an ability to act)
· building system-wide relationships
· a continued focus on the new ways of working (persevering through challenges)
· providing staff with adequate time and resources
· a new approach to leadership
· data and analytic capabilities.
The report recommends the insight from the PCH programme is used to support local efforts to spread primary care transformation efforts further into and across their health and care economy and to articulate the primary care contribution to improving population health.
The full report is available here https://napc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Insights-from-the-Spread-of-the-Primary-Care-Home.pdf
For further information please contact: [email protected]