PCNs will need to better align their patient lists with neighbourhood boundaries, under the new network DES contract.
But the DES contract documents stressed that aligning lists to neighbourhoods was not intended to disrupt ‘well‑functioning PCNs with geographically contiguous boundaries’.
The documents said: ‘PCNs are required to work with their ICB to better align PCN lists with neighbourhood boundaries, this is only intended for limited cases where current geography does not reflect local communities and is not intended to disrupt well‑functioning PCNs with geographically contiguous boundaries.’
The updated Network Contract DES for 2026/27, published last week, also sets out that it will be a core requirement from 1 April for PCNs to identify patients to prioritise for continuity of care.
It also contains new clinical requirements with regards to vaccinations and cancer diagnoses and an increase to the maximum that PCNs can claim from the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS).
On care continuity, the DES said PCNs will need to ‘identify and code the target cohort, develop a personalised care and support plan, deliver co-ordinated multi-professional interventions and provide a clear plan for continuity of care’.
An explanatory note from NHS England added that the move was aimed at ’embedding continuity as a core expectation and supporting the development of future continuity models’.
The updated DES said PCNs should refer to proactive care guidance to identify cohorts, adding that ‘depending on local capacity to implement proactive care, further prioritisation may be needed based on risk of deterioration’.
The documents also said GPs hired via the Capacity and Access Payment can move to the practice-level reimbursement scheme when the £292 million pot gets repurposed from 1 April.
It said: ‘We have repurposed the Capacity and Access Payment, worth £292 million, to introduce a new practice‑level GP reimbursement scheme. This will enable practices to recruit new GPs or increase the number of sessions from GPs already working in the practice.
‘These changes are designed to strengthen clinically urgent same‑day access in general practice. GPs already employed through this funding will be eligible to transfer to the GP reimbursement scheme.’
The DES also shows that in 2026/27 PCNs will receive £3.059 per patient, up from £2.999 the previous financial year.
Within this core figure, £2.311 will be multiplied by PCN registered list size as of January 2026, and £0.748 multiplied by adjusted population.
Alongside the core funding, PCNs are also eligible for £8.903 in enhanced access payments for the period 1 April 2026 until 31 March 2027. This compares to £8.427 in 2025/26.
NHS England’s guidance also said that ‘in order to support the recruitment of GPs via the ARRS’ it will increase the maximum reimbursement amount that PCNs can claim from £82,418 in 2025/26 to £118,759 in 2026/27 and to £120,921 for GPs in London (representing the top of the salaried GP pay range).
‘This reflects that the scheme is now open to a wider range of GPs,’ it said.
Under the new GP contract, which comes into force this month, PCNs will be able to hire experience GPs through the ARRS, not just those that are recently qualified.
The DES will also contractually require practices and PCNs to participate in the General Practice Staff Survey.
Meanwhile, new requirements to improve cancer referrals, early diagnosis and screening uptake will see PCNs having to review ‘the quality of cancer referral practice against the recommendations of NICE Guideline 12, focusing on timely referral to support improved cancer survival’.
‘This should include building on current safety netting practice, including using electronic safety netting tools where appropriate to monitor patients with symptoms which could indicate cancer,’ the DES said.
On vaccination, the DES now includes a new requirement to ensure care home residents are identified and offered seasonal and routine vaccinations, a proposal set out in the GP contract changes.
NHS England said that ‘while PCNs are not required to deliver the vaccinations themselves, they must have arrangements in place to ensure residents are offered vaccination’.
The DES said: ‘A PCN must also review each resident’s overall vaccination status as part of personalised care planning, and where a resident is eligible for a routine vaccination, the PCN must work with the patient’s registered practice to ensure they are offered vaccination at the earliest opportunity.’
A version of this article was first published by our sister title Pulse PCN
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