Launch of the Primary Care Access Hub

The Primary Care Access Hub (PCAH) went live during June 2017 and is delivered from Dene Drive Primary Care Centre in Winsford, with GP and Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) appointments for patients registered at any South Cheshire & Vale Royal practice which has a data sharing agreement in place with the Hub.
The aim is to ensure that these additional appointments are used to the benefit of our local patients for problems that cannot wait until the following Monday (i.e. not for routine consultations).

The route into a PCAH appointment for patients will only be via NHS111, although a delay in engagement by NHS111 has meant that we launched the service by opening appointments to local practices to book directly for their own patients with a need for an urgent appointment on a Friday, but for whom they didn’t have an appointment available.

Key elements of the model are:
1. Appointments only appropriate for patients who have given consent for their GP record to be viewed by the PCAH.
2. Hub appointments will be 15 minutes long and sessions are 9am to 12noon on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays, with GPs and ANPs.