Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Primary Care Networks are being established; where those networks will be located; how many patients those networks will be responsible for; and what assessment he has made of the effect of those networks on the commissioning of bladder, bowel and continence care services.

Primary Care Networks (PCNs) are being developed to cover England. NHS England have reported that, as of 1 July 2019, 1,259 PCNs had been formed with 99.7% of all general practitioner (GP) practices being covered by a network. PCNs are networks of GP practices typically covering population footprints of 30-50,000 people.

In England, it is the responsibility of National Health Service commissioners to make decisions on individual urinary continence care on the basis of the available evidence, taking into account guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and NHS England where available. In July 2018 NHS England published revised guidance for commissioners to support the development of high-quality continence services. NICE guidance is always evidence based, adhering to the latest clinical thinking and research to determine the best treatment for patients.