Surgery: Waiting Lists
(asked on 9th February 2022) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allocating a significant part of the funding for managing the waiting lists for elective care to Primary Care Networks.
Answered by
Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No formal assessment has been made of allocating part of the elective recovery fund to Primary Care Networks (PCNs).
PCNs receive their own funding. Since 2019, practices have been able to join PCNs, which typically serve local population ‘footprints’ of between 30,000 and 50,000 people and help to deliver economies of scale, boost capacity, and improve access to healthcare services.
Their introduction has represented a significant additional funding stream for primary care services, which continues to grow and includes reimbursement for additional clinical staff.
It also includes an Investment and Impact Fund, worth £150 million in 2021-2022 and £225 million in 2022-2023, which includes £9.9 million from April 2022 to incentivise the utilisation of specialist advice and guidance within PCNs.