GP Provider Collaboratives are partnerships which bring together two or more organisations to work together, at scale, to benefit their populations.  To date, this has tended to be NHS Trusts, hospitals and mental health services.  There are very few GP Provider Collaboratives.

However, PCL want to move away from an emphasis on organisational autonomy and competition, towards collaboration and partnership working.    Whilst providers have worked together for many years, the move to formalise this way of working is part of a fundamental shift in the way in which the health and care system is organised.

The recent experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic have shown the benefits of providers working together to address challenges.  National healthcare policy has positioned provider collaboratives as central to delivering the aims of ICSs, while leaving scope to define what this means in practice.

Working within a GP Provider Collaborative provides a variety of benefits for the GP practice:

• Greater opportunities for General Practice to be further involved in delivering a wider range of clinical services. Developing the clinical skills mix within the practice.

• Enables contracts for services to be directly awarded to a local Provider Collaborative, rather than go through time consuming procurement/tendering processes.  Services can be implemented quicker.

• Continuity of care for patients by ensuring services are delivered by local General Practice rather than the independent sector.

• Gives General Practice a greater voice at the table as a partner of the Integrated Care System.

Our ambition is for PCL to provide an umbrella for General Practice in this areas, providing financial support, contract negotiation and management, governance framework, quality framework and reporting.