The North East and North Cumbria Primary Care Collaborative (NENC PCC) was set up almost two years ago, to provide a combined voice for dentistry, general practice, optometry, and pharmacy. Its remit is to advocate for primary care, solve problems, promote innovation, and influence decisions regionally and nationally – all with the aim of improving people’s health.

Fiona Adamson is the organisation’s Co-Chair. She says:

Chair Fiona Adamson speaking at NENC PCC’s first annual conference for primary care professionals in the North East and North Cumbria.

“Our job is really to facilitate collaboration within and between the four pillars of primary care, and to connect primary care to organisations across the system. Flexibility and building relationships are key to what we do – we want to champion the best work taking place, ensuring that primary care is an equal and valued partner in the system. This is particularly important post 10 year plan launch as we all consider what a neighbourhood health service might look like”

Recent examples of NENC PCC programmes of work include:

Optimising access to patient records: NHS Care Record Service (NCRS) expansion pilot

 Led by the North of England Commissioning Support Unit on behalf of the Primary Care Collaborative, this pilot project aims to enhance care across optometry and dentistry by enabling access to the NHS Care Record Service (NCRS). Phase one involved 13 practices testing integration processes, technologies, and workflows. The initiative focuses on improving clinical decision-making, continuity of care, and patient safety. Participants receive comprehensive support and training. The pilot assessed outcomes for patients and clinicians, with the goal of wider adoption to streamline care delivery and strengthen service coordination across primary care.

The NENC Primary Care Workforce Strategy 2025-2030

 The newly published NENC Primary Care Workforce Strategy 2025–2030 outlines a unified five-year plan to transform and future-proof the primary care workforce across pharmacy, optometry, dentistry, and general practice in our region. The strategy identifies five core workstreams: Recruitment and Retention, Pipeline and Education, Leadership and Development, Protected Learning Time, and Estates. Rooted in extensive stakeholder engagement, it aims to create a sustainable, supportive, and inclusive workforce environment. The strategy aligns with national and local priorities, with the next phase focused on implementation, pilot development, and impact evaluation.

Taking a Population Health approach

The PCC sourced support for PCN teams to undertake a series of workshops to enable them to better understand their population health data, with a view to using their insights to plan more targeted services for their local neighbourhoods. Interest was high, and so far a quarter of all PCNs have accessed support. A series of PHM educational webinars have also been offered to colleagues in Pharmacy, Optometry and Dentistry teams.

These projects are only a recent snapshot of the exciting work NENC PCC is doing. Last month the PCC was really pleased to support a series of GP Listening events, where local teams were able to feed back their thoughts and priorities to Sam Allen, ICB CEO, and Dr Neil O’Brien, ICB Medical Director. In April, the organisation hosted its first full conference event – with high-profile speakers including Dr Claire Fuller, Co-Medical Director for Primary Care on the NHS Transformation Executive Team, and Ruth Rankine, Director of Primary Care, NHS Confederation. And, of course, the focus at the moment is on making sure that primary care voices are heard as we consider the challenges and opportunities of the 10 year plan. These could be exciting times for primary care, with changes afoot that could revitalise the way we work and the care we deliver for decades to come.