Primary Care Network June Update 2025

Tara Humphrey
4 days ago
4 min read

At THC primary care, we create resources for primary care leaders. In this primary care network update, we are highlighting the recent documents and developments affecting primary care networks.

The Three Left Shifts: The Strategic Context

All the developments outlined in this update are underpinned by the NHS's three fundamental left shifts, which appear consistently across the documents reviewed:

From treatment to prevention - focusing on keeping people healthy rather than just treating illness
From hospital to community - moving care closer to where people live
From analogue to digital - harnessing technology to transform how care is delivered

These shifts drive everything from the Spending Review allocations to local integration models. Understanding them helps make sense of why primary care and neighbourhood services are receiving such focus.

Documents Reviewed

This update draws from five key documents published between April and June 2025:

NHS Spending Review 2025 - Government funding commitments through 2028-29
Urgent and Emergency Care Plan 2025/26 - National expectations for winter planning
Birmingham and Solihull ICB Board Papers - Local implementation plans (May 2025)
Model Integrated Care Board Blueprint v1.0 - ICB role clarification
A Neighbourhood Health Service for London: Target Operating Model - Integration approaches

Let's jump in!

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NHS Spending Review 2025

Summary

The Department of Health and Social Care has announced a £53 billion cash increase in NHS funding by 2028-29, representing a 3.0% average annual real terms growth rate. This investment directly supports the three left shifts by prioritising primary care workforce expansion and community-based services.

Key Points for Primary Care

Additional funding to support training of thousands more GPs, building on 1,700 already recruited
700,000 additional urgent NHS dentist appointments per year
8,500 additional mental health staff by end of Parliament
Mental health support teams in 100% of schools by 2029-30
Up to £10 billion investment in NHS technology and digital transformation by 2028-29

Timeline

Implementation from 2025-26 through to 2029-30, with most transformation occurring in the 2026-27 to 2028-29 period.

Source: Spending Review 2025 - GOV.UK

The THC breakdown ⬇️

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Urgent and Emergency Care Plan 2025/26

Summary

The national plan sets system-wide expectations for improving urgent and emergency care performance, with specific responsibilities for integrated care boards and primary care.

Requirements for Primary Care

Support the achievement of a new 45-minute ambulance handover standard (reduced from 60 minutes)
Increase the number of patients receiving care in primary, community and mental health settings
Improve vaccination rates among health and care workers
Demonstrate effective use of capacity across the whole system
Develop collective winter plans signed off by every board and chief executive by summer 2025

Better Care Fund Changes

The plan outlines a more targeted approach to BCF oversight, focusing on improving discharges and ensuring adequate capacity planning for winter surges.

Source: Urgent and Emergency Care Plan 2025/26

The THC breakdown ⬇️

Teal graphic with text: "NHS Urgent and Emergency Care Plan 2025/26: A Summary for Primary Care Leaders." Includes glasses and papers.

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Model ICB Blueprint

Summary

Developed by ICB leaders from across England, this blueprint clarifies the future role of ICBs as strategic commissioners focused on improving population health and reducing inequalities.

Core Functions

ICBs will focus on:

Understanding local context and population needs
Developing long-term population health strategies
Delivering strategy through payer functions and resource allocation
Evaluating impact

What This Means for Primary Care

The blueprint emphasises ICBs working with primary care as key partners in neighbourhood health delivery, with clearer accountability and reduced duplication of functions.

Source: Model Integrated Care Board Blueprint v1.0

The THC breakdown ⬇️

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Integration Models: Different Approaches Emerging

Places across England are developing their own approaches to the integrator model, recognising there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Interestingly, the language used reveals different philosophies:

Birmingham and Solihull Approach

Language used: "Integrated Neighbourhood Teams", "Locality hubs", "Community Care Collaborative"

Building around six localities with 35 Integrated Neighbourhood Teams (one per PCN)
Keeping existing PCN boundaries and building infrastructure around them
Locality hubs providing proactive care and coordination centres
Three-year rollout: 5 INTs operational now, all 35 by 2027-28

London's Model

Language used: "Integrator organisation", "Place partnerships", "Neighbourhood health service"

Place partnerships determining neighbourhood boundaries based on local evidence
PCNs may need to realign if boundaries do not match natural neighbourhoods
"Integrator" organisations hosting enabling functions
Focus on getting geography right before building services

Note the difference: Birmingham talks about "teams" and "collaboration", suggesting a bottom-up, partnership approach. London uses "integrator organisation", suggesting a more structural, top-down enabling approach. Both are valid - just different ways of conceptualising the same challenge.

The THC Breakdown ⬇️