Since the NHS was created in 1948, the population has grown and people are living longer. Many people are living with long term conditions such as diabetes and heart disease or suffer with mental health issues and may need to access their local health services more often. To meet these needs, GP practices are working together with community, mental health, social care, pharmacy, hospital and voluntary services in their local areas in groups of practices known as primary care networks (PCNs). PCNs build on existing primary care services and enable greater provision of proactive, personalised, coordinated and more integrated health and social care for people close to home. Clinicians describe this as a change from reactively providing appointments to proactively caring for the people and communities they serve.

Our PCN staff work and share their time between ourselves, The White Horse Medical Practice, and our Primary Care Network site, Botley Medical Practice.

Physician associates are healthcare professionals with a generalist medical education, who work alongside doctors providing medical care as an integral part of the multidisciplinary team. Physician associates are dependent practitioners who can work autonomously, but always under the supervision of a fully trained and experienced doctor. They bring new talent add to the skill mix within teams, providing a stable, generalist section of the workforce which can help ease the workforce pressures that the NHS currently faces.

Kate initially studied Biochemistry at Cardiff University before spending a few years working with Adults and Children on the Autistic Spectrum. She then decided to travel, so spent a year in both Australia and New Zealand where she did some caring, admin and farm work! Kate returned to the UK where she found herself working for Public Health England in the Bristol Virology Lab for three years, before moving to Manchester to study the Physician Associate course. She gained her first job as a PA working for the White Horse Botley PCN, where she is able to fulfil her wish to work with patients in a medical setting. Outside of work, she enjoys music, cooking, and walks in the countryside, or when she is able to go back to Cornwall where she is from, going to the beach and attempting to surf!

The role of a Social Prescriber is non-medical. Social Prescribers can connect people to community groups and statutory services for practical and emotional support and are able to give people time, focusing on 'what matters to me' and taking a holistic approach to people's health and wellbeing.

The reasons a person might be referred to a Social Prescriber are many and varied; ranging from low mood to thinking about stopping smoking, queries about benefits to food bank vouchers, loneliness, bereavement, social isolation, losing weight, carer stress – and many more besides.

In her spare time Sarah really enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She also loves running, walking and baking and going out in her campervan.