We now know what is in the GP contract update for next year.  But we are worried that the LMC conference in March might change things.  We don’t know if our practices will sign up again to the PCN DES, and won’t know for sure until the end of May.  So what should we be doing now?

The problem PCNs have, given the challenges posed within the contract for next year, is that they do not have a spare three months.  Meeting the contract requirements is going to take all the time available, and trying to move from a standing start at the end of May is going to make life very difficult for any PCN that postpones taking action.

Where should PCNs start?  It will of course depend on the individual circumstances of each PCN, but a generic plan for the next three months will look something like this:

March

Undertake a workload analysis for 2020/21.  This will include working through the detail of the three PCN specifications, identifying what your “social prescribing service” is going to entail, working through the actions required to achieve the 8 indicators in the Investment and Impact Fund, as well as any actions needed to continue or develop any local priorities or initiatives.

Get the information you need from your CCG.  This will include the list of care homes and number of care home beds in your PCN, the exact amount of your Additional Role Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) funding for next year, and any additional support the CCG will provide.

Put management support in place.  You may have already done this, but if you haven’t, then now is the time, because the demands on PCNs next year are much more onerous than this year.  Don’t wait until several months in when the PCN CD is on the verge of resignation/breakdown to make this happen.  Use the PCN development money, the £1.50 running costs, or grab any support the PCN is offering – access management support however you can.

Establish your end of 2019/20 financial plan.  By now you will have a good idea of how much money the PCN has spent, is going to spend, and what will be left over.  You need to decide how this funding is either going to be used or distributed to the practices.  You need to do this in March so that if you do want to do anything with the funding it is not too late to make it happen.

April

Define the roles you want.  Once you have completed the workload analysis the PCN will need to decide how to use the ARRS funding to deliver the workload.  PCNs have to formally submit their “workforce intentions” by the end of June, but, frankly, this is too late.

Create a local recruitment campaign.  The contract update indicates that CCG HR resources will be available to PCNs to support them with recruitment into these new roles.  It would seem wise to take up this offer to attract the highest possible calibre of candidates locally.

Establish a financial plan for 2020/21.  As the total income and expenditure will be higher for the year ahead, it is even more important that each PCN establishes not just a plan to deliver the workload and a workforce plan, but also a financial plan to run alongside.

Finalise the 2019/20 accounts.  I can’t stress enough the importance of PCNs sorting out their end of year accounts as early as possible.  If there are any tax implications for the member practices, then they need to be informed of these as early as possible.

May

Push on recruitment.  Recruitment is notoriously slow, and so PCNs will need to make sure the process is being actively managed to ensure the staff they need to enable delivery are in post as quickly as possible.

Prepare for the incoming roles.  Making the new roles a success involves more than simply getting people in post.  PCNs will need a clear plan of how each role is going to be managed, supervised and supported, as well as how they will operate and what they will do.  The better the preparation for the new roles, the more likely that they will be a success.

Create a detailed work plan for each workstream.  PCNs will need to build on the workload analysis carried out in March, and hopefully by now be able to use some management resource, to create a detailed work plan for each of the service specifications and each of the areas of work identified for the PCN.

Sign up to the DES.  At the end of May, practices will need to sign up (or not) to the PCN DES.  If PCNs have carried out all the work above, it will be much easier for practices to be able to understand exactly what is involved and how it is going to be achieved when making this decision.

This is not an exhaustive list.  For example, you might want a stakeholder plan (how you are going to work with neighbouring organisations to support/enable delivery of the workload), an estates plan (where are these new roles going to be based), or an IT/data sharing plan (how will you deliver services across multiple practices), depending on your local circumstances.  Equally, you may already have some of the components of the plan in place.  The key point is that the next three months are a vital period for PCNs, and it is important PCNs don’t waste the opportunity to build some momentum into the coming year.