Primary care networks and the NHS e-Referral Service

GP practices are working together with community, mental health, social care, pharmacy, hospital and voluntary services in their local areas in groups of practices known as primary care networks (PCNs). PCNs build on existing primary care services and enable greater provision of proactive, personalised, coordinated and more integrated health and social care for people close to home.

This will require all PCNs to have appropriate business roles allocated by the local registration authorities

Once set up to use e-RS, referrers are able to seek advice and/or refer patients from any PCN which their chosen authentication method (for example, smartcard, secure key, windows hello) is associated to.

Changes to e-RS in September 2023 now allows PCNs to be adopted into the service. The changes allow the ODS codes for PCN organisations to be recognised by e-RS.  

Any PCN referrer is responsible for the life cycle of the referral and should have an understanding of their local process to ensuring monitoring and management is undertaken efficiently. For example, where a patient has been referred into a bookable service, if the provider rejects the referral it will return to the PCN’s referrer worklist to be actioned.