Ian Reeve, North East Community Health Network

1. North East Community Health
Network
Supporting 15 ….. 21? …… 46? General
Practices Across South of Tees
Ian Reeve – Managing Director

2. A Bit About North East Community Health
Network Ltd
• Originated from Langbaurgh Social Enterprise Ltd set
up in 2007.
• Community membership of 15 general practices
serving a population of 97,000 in Redcar, East
Cleveland and Guisborough. Membership now open to
all 46 South Tees General Practices
• Articles state that it is for benefit of the community –
its purpose is to improve the health of the local
population through developing the scale, breadth and
quality of primary care services
• It is for profit, with all profits re-invested in the
purpose of the enterprise

3. Why Have a Federated Approach ?
• The environment
– Changes to GP contracts, seven day working, managing
increasing demands on practices with fewer GPs.
Competition, big players will get bigger, takeovers lead to
powerful providers, fear that lose autonomy.
– What has happened to General Practice support?
– What’s happened to community services, sexual health
services, GP Out of Hours, urgent care services - frequently
fragmentation and disengagement from General Practice.
• Having a single voice and resource to support all
practices
• Take control….look to deliver integrated services using
the strengths of General Practice
• Develop Partnerships to achieve integrated services
and stronger Primary Care (MCPs)

4. How we work
• It is led by the Clinical Director and up to six other
Directors who are appointed by Practice Members
• The leadership is held to account by Practice Members
(who can terminate by majority vote the appointment
of any Director)
• Practice members hold one non transferable vote each,
determine rules through which the organisation works
and also determine who can be a member
• The Executive Team is made up of Clinical Director,
Clinical Governance Lead, Training and Education Lead,
STAR lead, Managing Director and five staff

5. Services We Currently Deliver
• Joint procurement – office supplies, flu vaccines, PAT
testing, Flu vaccs in care homes, training, DBS
• Resolution Health Centre - locum bank – admin,
reception, nurse, GP
• Service provision – Minor Surgery, Vasectomy
• Research Hub
• STAR GP Centres – extended hours patient access,
integrated 111, access to patient record, dedicated
telephone line for Ambulances and Care Homes plus
video consultation and home visits
• GP in A&E – 10.00am – 10.00pm (linked to STAR)

6. Why Social Enterprise?
• Powerful - ownership by the Members …. ensuring
organisation delivers its aims
• Powerful – aims linked to developing thriving General
Practice and wider Primary Care
• For profit BUT profits re-invested - it is the only form
that is acceptable to all practices.
• Besides - pragmatic, distribute a profit of £180,000
and every GP partner is £200 better off in their
pocket! Alternative – invest £180,000 in creating a
thriving General Practice.
• A form that develops Trust. Acceptability to
Stakeholders – patients, staff, Government, all
political parties, Department of Health, CCG, Local
Authorities

7. Barriers and Opportunities
Barriers
• Being different eg
Information Governance
tool, CQC, TPP SystemOne
Opportunities
• Wide range of skills
accessible
• Access to multiple locations
for service delivery
• IT and information that is
joined up
• General Practice working at
scale

8. Experience Working in a Social
Enterprise
• Getting set up – creating an infrastructure
• Maintaining momentum - lack of opportunities …..
overwhelmed by opportunities. Flexible workforce.
• Partnerships – need right people and right time and place
• Tendering – cannot compete with big players.
• Developing proposals – integrated solutions, not affected
by perverse incentives
• Implementation. Absence of bureacracy. Freedom to take
risk. Can get on with it fast.
• Working with your members ….. it can be difficult …. it can
be fantastic ….. it tends to
• You set you own destiny