Sussex Primary Care Provider Collaborative

Sussex Primary Care Provider Collaborative

The Sussex Primary Care Provider Collaborative (PCPC) brings together the four primary care sectors — general practice, community pharmacy, dentistry and optometry — to work collaboratively on the future of primary care across Sussex.

For community pharmacy, the PCPC provides an important opportunity to ensure that the knowledge, experience and perspective of community pharmacy are part of Sussex-wide conversations about how primary care develops. The Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC) works alongside community pharmacy representatives within the PCPC to help ensure that the contribution of community pharmacy is understood, recognised and reflected in system planning.

Why does the PCPC matter to community pharmacy?

Primary care is changing. Increasingly, decisions about services, neighbourhood working, integration and the way care is delivered are being considered across organisational and professional boundaries. Community pharmacy is already a key part of the primary care landscape, providing accessible care to communities across Sussex and supporting patients with a wide range of clinical and preventative services. The PCPC provides an opportunity to build on this contribution and ensure that community pharmacy is involved in the conversations that shape the future of primary care.

By working alongside general practice, dentistry and optometry, community pharmacy can:

• Help identify the opportunities and challenges facing primary care
• Share the experience and expertise of community pharmacy
• Influence the development of neighbourhood and place-based services
• Identify opportunities for greater collaboration across primary care
• Help ensure that new models of care make effective use of community pharmacy
• Contribute to practical solutions that improve outcomes for patients and communities.

The role of the LPC

The Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC) is the statutory representative body for community pharmacy contractors in Sussex. The LPC’s role within the PCPC is to ensure that the interests and experience of community pharmacy are properly represented in collaborative discussions about primary care. Our involvement does not replace the LPC’s independent representative role. Instead, the PCPC provides an additional forum through which the LPC can engage with the other primary care sectors and system partners on issues where there are shared interests and opportunities for collaboration.

The LPC will continue to represent community pharmacy contractors independently on matters relating specifically to the pharmacy contract, commissioning, funding, contractual requirements and the interests of pharmacy contractors.

Community pharmacy representation

Community pharmacy has a direct voice within the PCPC through three pharmacy place leads, representing the three Sussex places:

West Sussex
Sarah Davis

Brighton & Hove
Marie Hockley

East Sussex
Craig McEwan

The PCPC Board also includes three GP place leads, three practice manager leads representation from the Local Medical Committee (LMC), Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC), Local Dental Committee (LDC) and Local Optometry Committee (LOC).

The Board is supported by a Managing Director and an independent Chair.

This structure brings together both place-based primary care leadership and the established representative bodies, creating opportunities for local experience and sector expertise to inform Sussex-wide discussions.

Supporting neighbourhood development

One of the first areas of focus for the PCPC is supporting the development of neighbourhood working across Sussex. This is an important opportunity for community pharmacy. Neighbourhoods bring primary care providers closer together around the needs of their local populations. Community pharmacies are already embedded within communities and have established relationships with patients, other healthcare professionals and local services. The LPC and the three pharmacy place leads will work to ensure that this perspective is reflected as neighbourhood models develop.

This includes considering:

• How community pharmacy can contribute to neighbourhood priorities
• Where pharmacy services can complement other primary care services
• How patients can benefit from better-connected primary care
• How community pharmacy expertise can contribute to prevention and early intervention
• What support, infrastructure and governance are needed to make collaborative models work effectively.

A shared voice for primary care

The PCPC’s strength comes from bringing the four primary care sectors together. Each sector has its own role, expertise and representative structures. However, there are also many issues where working together can provide a stronger collective voice and lead to better outcomes for patients. The aim is not to create another layer of bureaucracy. It is to create a practical mechanism for primary care providers to work together where there is a genuine shared interest.

Our priorities

From a community pharmacy and LPC perspective, our involvement in the PCPC is focused on ensuring that:

• Community pharmacy has a meaningful voice in primary care planning and development.
• The contribution of pharmacy is recognised as part of the wider primary care offer.
• Local pharmacy knowledge and experience inform neighbourhood and place-based development.
• New services and models of care are designed collaboratively, with clear roles and responsibilities.
• Funding, capacity and accountability are properly considered when new responsibilities or services are proposed.
• Community pharmacy contractors are not expected to absorb additional unfunded workload.
• Patients and communities benefit from better-connected primary care services.

Looking ahead

The PCPC is still developing, but it provides an important opportunity for community pharmacy to help shape the future of primary care in Sussex. The LPC will continue to engage constructively with the PCPC, the three pharmacy place leads and system partners to identify opportunities where collaboration can strengthen services for patients and support sustainable community pharmacy.

Our objective is simple:

To ensure community pharmacy is not just part of the conversation about the future of primary care, but an active contributor to shaping it.

Find out more

For more information about the Sussex Primary Care Provider Collaborative, visit the Sussex PCPC website.