Mar 16, 20223 min read

The Role of the PCN Clinical Lead | A Checklist

Updated: Sep 27, 2023

We often refer to the role of the PCN Clinical Lead, but what does this role entail?

Following a master class delivered by GP Partner Dr Najib Seedat on the role of the Clinical Lead in our PCN Management Induction Programme, I thought I would share his checklist as a starter for 10. The aim of this checklist is to help your clinical leads gain a better understanding of what is expected of them.

Please note, in this instance, I am not referring to the Clinical Director.

The Clinical Lead for a workstream is typically only responsible for a particular service or project.
The Clinical Director typically oversees and provides leadership to the entire PCN.

The Objective of the Role (an example)

The overall objective of the clinical lead role is to lead on clinical governance, education and supervision for the XXXX service and support the achievement of clinical and non-clinical performance measures, in conjunction with the PCN leadership and management team and PCN workforce.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

Responsibilities may include:

Remaining up to date with contractual requirements and guidance
To provide clinical and operational leadership whilst balancing a clinical workload
Working alongside the management team to support recruitment, appraisals, professional development and performance monitoring
Pro-actively leading the development of clinical provision across the PCN
Ensuring the delivery of safe and effective services that are responsive to the changing needs of the local population and sustainable over time
Facilitating stakeholder engagement to negotiate, influence and develop effective partnerships to support the transformation of clinical pathways
Attending project/workstream-related meetings and proactively keeping the network informed.

The Clinical Lead Checklist

As a Clinical Lead, you will be expected to take ownership of the project/ workstream.

You will be expected to know, lead, and advise on the following:

1. What does the contract/specification require or do we need to develop a project from scratch based on our population head needs?

2. What is being asked from a clinical aspect, and is this achievable? This includes timeframes.

3. What clinical resources do we need in order to put this together?

4. What project management and administrative support do we need?

5. Do we have/need templates?

Outcome template
Workforce template
Finance template
Clinical template

6. Do we understand how the project finances are managed and the funding streams for the project?

7. What oversight do we need? Do we need to assemble a team to help deliver, monitor, and quality assure the project?

8. Have we identified project key stakeholders?

9. What does the process map /SOP look like, and what are the risks and issues?

10. Are we aware of the project meeting, communication schedule and channels used to communicate the progress of the project?

11. Once the project is complete, how do we plan to deliver the outcome to the group?

🎯 Don't forget to tailor this to meet your needs.

We hope this helps!

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Tara provides project and network management and training to Primary Care Networks and coaching support to clinical leads and has worked with 11 Training Hubs and 120 Primary Care Networks to date.

Tara has an MBA in Healthcare Leadership and Management, is published in the London Journal of Primary Care, is the author of over 250 blogs, also hosts The Business of Healthcare Podcast.

Find out more about THC Primary Care at www.thcprimarycare.co.uk

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