PCN Reports: Engaging with local communities in primary care

Report - 10 March 2025

Read our new report on supporting engagement with people and communities in Lambeth Primary Care Networks (PCNs), with additional reports on our projects on digital inclusion in Fiveways PCN and engaging South Asian patients in Streatham PCN. The reports highlight the importance of community engagement in shaping local healthcare services and outline steps for improving patient involvement across Lambeth’s PCNs.

Patient engagement and consultation with community groups are gaining momentum in the health sector in a bid to ensure healthcare is patient-focused and delivered in a way that is relevant and accessible to patients. Commissioned by NHS South East London Integrated Care Systems (formerly Clinical Commissioning Group), this project involved Healthwatch Lambeth partnering with PCNs in Lambeth to engage with specific population groups and develop plans for future pieces of community engagement.

Key findings

The reports indicate that while PCN staff value community engagement, challenges such as limited resources and lack of clear community engagement roles can hinder participation. 

Recommendations

The report offers several recommendations at SEL ICS, PCN, and practice levels, including:

SEL ICS

  • SEL ICS should facilitate opportunities for PCN and practice staff to collaborate with Public Health teams in order to identify the needs of the local population and the health inequalities that exist within their patient population.
  • SEL ICS should ensure Community Engagement is embedded within the PCN structure in a clearly defined way and provide opportunities for collaboration across practices as well as PCNs within Lambeth.

PCNs

  • PCNs should align with Public Health teams to understand the needs of the local community.
  • PCNs should identify a staff member from each practice to be the point of contact regarding community engagement activities. These staff members should communicate regularly to discuss priorities, plan engagement, and share knowledge.

Practices

  • Practices should ensure demographic information about their patients is complete and up to date. This information is essential for identifying health inequalities.
  • Practices should identify a person or team of people within the practice who can lead community engagement activities. Materials from the training workshops have been provided to all staff and can be used as a framework for developing future engagement plans.
  • Practices should support engagement activities by providing resources or funding for text messages to invite patients to participate.

Read the full reports

Engaging with local communities
Download (PDF 1.44 MB)
Fiveways: Digital Inclusion
Download (PDF 913 KB)
Streatham: South Asian Patient Engagement
Download (PDF 1.26 MB)

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