PCN Websites

Simplify patient flow with a GPsurgery.net PCN website

Primary Care Network websites

Telling patients about the services provided by your PCN can be challenging.

An inclusive and accessible PCN website will keep more patients in the know about screening opportunities, social prescribing services and extended access appointments.

A PCN website from GPsurgery.net will reduce the burden on the PCN team and individual GP practices by:

  • Centralising self-referral for social prescribing
  • Promoting online triage services
  • Allowing patients to book extended access appointments directly
  • Promoting key public health campaigns
  • Broadcasting news, alerts, job vacancies and pages to all the GP practice websites in the PCN

Centralise your self-referral system

Setting up self-referral for social prescribing on the PCN website eases the burden on individual GP practices. Online forms reduce the admin of sorting and passing information on by putting the data directly into the hands of the people who need it – your social prescribers.

Promote your online triage services

Use the PCN website to explain your online triage service to patients and keep them up-to-date on changes to the service.

You’ll also be able to explain and include links to your video consultation service (if you have one) . Keeping this information in one location saves duplication on the GP websites and reduces the risk of out of date information.

Allow patients to book extended access appointments directly*

Reduce the burden on your admin team by centralising your extended access appointments booking system on the PCN website. This makes it easier for you, less stressful for your GPs and clearer for patients.

Promote key public health campaigns

The PCN website can provide patients with a trusted source of health information and campaigns relevant to their local area. Practices can save time too, by directing patients to the PCN website rather than uploading health campaign information directly to their own site.

Broadcast news, alerts, job vacancies and pages to all the GP practice websites in the PCN

With a GPsurgery.net PCN site you can publish  news, alerts, job vacancies and pages on the PCN site and broadcast them across all the individual GP practice websites. This saves admin  time and avoids duplicating information by hand.

Case study: Altrincham Healthcare Alliance

We worked with Altrincham Healthcare Alliance to deliver a bespoke website for their PCN. With five GP practices under their care, we were able to ease their workload by introducing the broadcast system for PCN-wide news, alerts and pages.

“Having the opportunity to broadcast content from the PCN site across five practices, rather than update each website, is a much-appreciated time-saver” – Christina Harrison-Stirling, Altrincham Healthcare Alliance PCN communications lead

We want your PCN site to feel like it’s related to the GP practice network. We worked with Altrincham to make the website work for them – and customised the design to work sympathetically with the logo but still retain the trust of the NHS brand.

Chat to us about how we can make our PCN websites work for you.

If you’re interested in a PCN website from GPsurgery.net, please book a call with Nick, who will talk you through the service and answer any questions you may have.

We really want to make our sites work for you, so please let us know about any services you can’t see here but want to use on your website.

*All practices in your network must subscribe to GPsurgery.net for this feature to work. We also have a product to allow comms across GP websites from different providers. Please contact us for more details.

Get free content for your PCN website (coming soon)

If you’re unsure about what to include on your PCN website, take a look at GPsurgery.net’s free content library. The content library is free to use for NHS clinical staff with an NHS email address and provides advice and standard copy for GP and PCN websites.

You can see our standard copy (under review) in action on our PCN demo site.

PCN website FAQs

Why do I need a PCN website?

While you don’t have to have a PCN site by law, having one is a useful way to keep your patients informed about your services (and changes to services). It’s also an important way to reduce the burden on individual GPs and practices by centralising extended access appointment booking, for example. The PCN website can also be used to promote other shared services including cancer screening, blood tests or immunisation clinics.

How do I ensure my PCN website is accessible?

At GPsurgery, we have worked to ensure that our  websites are compliant with The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (known as WCAG). Further information about the WCAG can be found here. 

We have also recently reviewed and updated our sites in line with new NHS guidance on creating a highly usable and accessible GP website. Our sites are also accessible without the use of accessibility overlays, which are not recommended by this new guidance. 

The content you upload to your website is ultimately your responsibility, but we will work with you to ensure that your content remains accessible.

How do I allow booking through a PCN website?

We generally recommend that you enable appointment booking through a specialist supplier and link to this from your website. We work with specialists who can provide standalone appointment booking, or even appointment booking that writes back to the clinical system in some cases. Chat to our team about this for more information.

Do you provide online forms with your PCN websites?

With all GPsurgery.net websites, we provide access to a library of standard forms for self-referral, patient registration, updating details and more. We also provide a bespoke forms service – chat to us about custom forms.

Can I have a PCN website with GPsurgery.net if the practice websites in the PCN are managed by other website providers?

Our broadcast system now allows us to broadcast content to GP websites hosted by most website providers. Please contact us for more information about this service.

Will the website ‘feel’ like a website for an NHS service?

We’ve worked hard to make our websites professional and familiar, taking note of the NHS style guidelines.

Will the PCN website be mobile friendly?

Yes, GPsurgery.net’s websites are all designed to work on mobile devices and on desktop computers.

Where should I look for information about what to add to my PCN website?

Your PCN website should highlight your key services and responsibilities to patients under your care. Tara Humphreys, a PCN expert, has written an excellent introduction to PCNs with a list of required services in line with the DES (Network Contract Directed Enhanced Service – contract specification 2022/23)

What content should go on my PCN website?

GPsurgery.net also provides a free content library to all NHS clinical staff with an NHS email address, which provides standard copy for the suggested pages on GP and PCN websites (PCN content coming soon). Follow this link to access the GPsurgery.net content library.

I’m a GP – will the PCN website replace the website for my practice?

Generally speaking, PCN websites are designed to work alongside individual practice websites and provide information specifically about PCN-wide services. 

In the new NHS guidance on creating a highly usable GP website, they suggest that for some PCNs, a single web solution for all practices can be a good way to improve consistency across the PCN. Follow this link for NHS guidance on a single web solution for PCNs and their practices. 

*You may need a PCN instance of your clinical system or a third party service to do this.