Publications

Community pharmacy is a critical part of primary care in England, but its role and relationship to the wider NHS is often poorly understood. This explainer looks at the community pharmacy sector in England, explaining how pharmacies are contracted and funded, the types of services they provide and future trends in the sector.

A key part of the NHS long-term plan, primary care networks (PCNs) will bring general practices together to work at scale. But what are they? How are they funded and held accountable? And what difference will they make? Beccy Baird explains the latest form of GP collaboration.

Social prescribing enables GPs, nurses and other primary care professionals to refer people to a range of local, non-clinical services to support their health and wellbeing. But does it work? And how does it fit in with wider health and care policy?

Testing is a central strand of the government’s approach to tackling the Covid-19 outbreak. This explainer looks at how testing works and the thinking behind the current strategy.

We outline the importance of investing in leadership in the voluntary and community sector, sharing the results of an external evaluation of the Cascading Leadership programme.

STPs outline how health and care services will work in partnership across 44 areas of England. But what are STPs and what do they mean for the NHS?