Primary Care Network
The only national network of primary care at-scale providers, uniting general practice, pharmacy, dentistry and optometry and being their voice.
Forging strategic partnerships: considerations for delivering the 10 Year Health Plan
Insights around key areas including shared infrastructure, creating one workforce, contracting and financial flows, and getting governance right.
Integration
Finance
As a member, you benefit from a trusted space to learn fast, share what works, build relationships and influence decisions that shape the future.
Access support that enables you to:
- Influence the future – by amplifying your voice to ensure primary care can lead, rather than follow
- Break down silos – by collaborating with your peers in primary care as well as with leaders in the system
- Lead the shift – by providing the support you need to transition to neighbourhood health, keep care closer to home while staying resilient.
Why join?
Membership unlocks opportunities to strengthen primary care at scale, improve the primary care interface with other parts of the system and position primary care within the system.
Membership gives you direct access to peers facing the same pressures, so you can sense-check decisions, swap solutions and avoid reinventing the wheel.
If you work at scale (or are moving that way), you can tap into practical guidance and the Provider Collaborative Leaders’ Forum to troubleshoot challenges, learn from others and accelerate progress.
We turn member insight into national influence, feeding into policy, working with government and system partners, and using media to keep primary care priorities on the agenda.
You benefit from our relationships with key partners, including trade union bodies, Royal Colleges and other representative organisations, so your priorities land in the right places, faster.
Members get access to networking forums, webinars and our annual conference – practical, peer-led sessions to help you solve problems, spot what’s coming next, and take ideas back to your organisation.
Forums to connect, share and learn
Forums exclusively for Primary Care Network members
- PCN Managers Forum: primary care network managers; meets quarterly.
- Primary Care Provider Collaborative Leaders Forum: leaders of primary care provider collaboratives; meets monthly.
- GP Leaders in Trusts Forum: GPs working in leadership roles in NHS trusts, such medical director, associate medical director; meets quarterly.
- Pharmacy, Optometry and Dentistry Leaders Forum: leaders of organisations providing community pharmacy, dentistry, optometry services; meets quarterly.
- Community Pharmacy Leaders Forum: leaders of community pharmacy providers; meets bimonthly (6 per year)
- Dental Providers Forum: leaders of dental CIC providers.
Forums available to all members of The NHS Alliance
- NHS Leaders Forum (successor to NHS Providers’ Chairs and Chief Executives Network): chairs and chief executives from across NHS trusts, ICBs, community CICs and primary care collaboratives. Meets twice yearly with all system leaders invited. Meets twice yearly in sector-specific groups – e.g. NHS trust chairs and chief executives only.
- NHS Non-Executive Directors Forum: Non-executive directors from across NHS trusts and ICBs.
- NHS Workforce Leaders Forum: directors of HR, workforce and organisational development.
- NHS Digital Innovation Leaders Forum: digital and innovation leaders at board level across trusts and ICBs; digital primary care senior leaders; board-level non-statutory members providing NHS funded patient care. Meets quarterly.
- NHS Communications Forum: directors of communications and engagement across trusts, ICBs and other parts of the system; other senior communications leads. Meets quarterly.
- NHS Quality and Safety Forum: series of webinars for board level leaders on key issues relating to quality and safety.
- NHS Work and Health Forum: broad ICB membership including ICB work and health leads, strategy and workforce leads and chairs. Non-ICB membership includes NHS trusts, local/strategic authorities, DWP, VCSE and national colleagues Currently monthly.
- Neighbourhood Leads Forum: primary care, acute, community, mental health and ICB neighbourhood health leads who are responsible for making neighbourhood working a reality at place and system.
- Outpatient Reform Forum: NHS trusts, community trusts, primary care and neighbourhood ICB; anyone involved with outpatient pathway redesign. Meets quarterly.
- EDI Directors Forum: directors, associate directors and high-level strategic leads for EDI or health inequalities within NHS organisations
- NHS BME Leadership Network: black and minority ethnic leaders, aspiring leaders and allies from across the NHS. We convene network members through our three annual in-person events: our anti-racism conference in April, network lunch at NHS ConfedExpo in June and our Black History Month event in October.
- NHS LGBTQ+ Leadership Network: LGBTQ+ leaders, aspiring leaders and allies from across the NHS. We convene members every quarter via virtual meetings and annually for our in-person networking session at NHS ConfedExpo.
- NHS Women Leaders Network: women working at all levels across health and care. We convene members several times a year via mix of in-person and virtual events including our quarterly fireside chats, annual conference and International Women’s Day celebrations.
- NHS Disability Leadership Network: new network.
Our priorities for 2026/27
- Strengthening primary care at scale, including the development of provider collaboratives; supporting contract reform; leadership development; and overall readiness for neighbourhood delivery.
- Improving the primary care interface with other parts of the system - acute, community, mental health and ICBs.
- Positioning primary care within the system, ensuring a strong voice in strategic commissioning and financial flows, a role in redesigning local services and improving enablers such as estates, workforce and leadership, digital and data.