PCN Clinical Director – Dr Talac Mahmud

Each PCN has an elected clinical director. At Great West Road, our clinical director is Dr Talac Mahmud, GP at HIYOS practice.

PCN Clinical Directors responsibilities are:

• To provide strategic and clinical leadership to the member practices of the primary care network.
• Develop and implement plans to support quality improvements and foster resilience and sustainability of the PCN membership.
• To help steer the PCN and GP surgeries to improve the quality of care, patient experience and develop new services or ways of working to meet the health needs of the PCN’s patients.
• See our day in the life of a GP!

PCN Project Manager – Sanam Dhaliwal

Your PCN has a manager who supports the Clinical Director and PCN.

Their role is to support the PCN with a wide range of business activities.

They help their PCN to work more closely with other providers for better patient care as well as identify ways to reduce health inequalities so everybody has the same access to health services in Hounslow.

HIYOS Practice Manager – Saira Jama

At Great West Road, we also have a lead practice manager for the PCN.

Their role is to provide comprehensive and innovative management support to the PCN Clinical Director to ensure the PCN operates effectively and develops strategically.

To work closely with each of the network practices to support network implementation and improvement and support to the PCN membership.

See our day in the life of a practice manager!

Care coordinators play an important role within a Primary Care Network.

The aims of our Care Coordinators are:

• To help patients see the right professional for their concern
• To provide quick and effective support to manage patient requests sent online
• To support non-clinical support teams in the GP surgeries to be able to have more time to focus on patients that cannot use online services
• To help clinical and non-clinical teams work together to make sure patient need are met
• To help make sure practices and PCNs can reach as many eligible patients as possible for important things like cancer screening

See our day in the life below!

Your Clinical Pharmacy team is made up of Clinical Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians. Clinical Pharmacists are highly qualified experts in medicines and Clinical Technicians work alongside them to help you get the best from your medicines. 

Dietitians are qualified health professionals. In a PCN, they work as part of your GP team. They assess, diagnose, and treat problems with diet and nutrition. Dietitians can help treat some diseases and prevent problems linked to nutrition.

Dietitians support adults with food, drink and lifestyle choices. They can help you to manage your medical conditions and stay well.

If you are interested in an appointment with a Dietitian, please speak to your GP surgery.

Diabetes Specialist Nurses (DSNs) are the backbone of diabetes treatment and care in the UK.

Their primary goal is to help people self-manage their diabetes. Patients with type-2 diabetes usually see both a practice nurse at their local GP’s in addition to a diabetes specialist nurse who will provide additional support and advice.

They will offer advice and treatment on the management of the person’s diabetes, including medication advice and lifestyle advice.

If you are interested in an appointment with a DSN, please speak to your GP surgery.

If you’ve got new pain in your joint or muscle, your GP Surgery may decide to offer you an appointment with a Musculoskeletal First Contact Practitioner (FCP). As highly trained Physiotherapists, their job is to assess and diagnose your problem and provide a treatment plan.

Conditions FCPs can help with include:

• All soft tissue injuries, sprains, strains or sports injuries

• Possible problems with muscles, ligaments, tendons or bone, e.g. tennis elbow and carpal tunnel syndrome

• Spinal pain including back pain and neck pain

• Spinal-related pain in arms or legs, including nerve symptoms, e.g. pins and needles or numbness

Mental Health Practitioners are now working as part of most Hounslow GP surgeries to help patients get the support they need. They are healthcare practitioners trained to support patients with their mental health.

If you are referred to a mental health practitioner, they will work with you to understand your needs.

After assessing your needs, they will provide treatment advice and support shared decision-making about self-management.

Mental health practitioners can:

• help you with talking therapies to support a wide range of topics and issues

• provide tools and techniques to help manage symptoms

• support you if you are experiencing the psychological effects of managing long-term conditions, such as diabetes

For more urgent advice and support contact, West London NHS Trust provides a Support and Advice Line on a 24-hour, 7 days a-week basis via telephone on 0800 328 4444.

Paramedics are registered healthcare professionals who have a unique role that crosses health and social care, public health, social care and public safety.

The paramedics in your Primary Care Network (PCN) are a home visiting service and support urgent care and assessment for housebound patients. They also carry out Long Term Conditions (LTCs) reviews for permanently housebound patients. They work independently to provide care in a range of situations but always stay in contact with your GP about any care provided.

If you are referred to the paramedic, they will attend on behalf of your GP. Your paramedic will work closely with your GP to manage any follow-up actions from your visit, so you don’t have to—for example, referrals or changes to medication.

Physician Associates are medically trained, generalist healthcare professionals who work with your GP to provide medical care.

Physician associates work under the supervision of a GP, but can work independently with appropriate support.

See our day in the life below!

Social prescribing is a personalised approach to healthcare that looks at all the possible needs of individuals from a non-clinical point of view. It recognises that people’s wellbeing is determined by a range of social, economic and environmental factors (e.g. housing, financial, employment, isolation).

Social prescribing link workers now form part of your GP surgery team, giving people time to focus on what matters to them:

Our social prescribing link workers support patients aged 18 or over. This service works well for individuals who have:

• One or more long-term conditions

• Require support with low-level mental health issues

• Feel lonely / isolated

• Have complex social needs

Your appointment

Our Health & Wellbeing Coaches will be working across Hounslow to support PCN projects and Healthy Hounslow’s Health Check service. This is a mobile service and does not accept direct referrals, instead our healthcare professionals operate out of a converted ambulance and travel to different locations, events and communities across Hounslow. For more information, please visit the Healthy Hounslow website at healthyhounslow.co.uk/service/health-checks/.

If you would like to access health coaching on referral, the best way to access this service is to complete an online assessment on the Healthy Hounslow website, but if you prefer to speak to somebody about the service, then you will also find a telephone number.

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