April 2, 2026
More than 100 general practice colleagues unite to discuss Neighbourhood health at March Pan-BNSSG Forum
More than 100 general practice and PCN colleagues from across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) recently attended the One Care and GP Collaborative Board Pan-BNSSG Forum to discuss priorities for the new Neighbourhood Health Fund, the future of local healthcare and priorities for general practice.
The forum gave colleagues the chance to discuss new ways of working under the emerging Neighbourhood model, and featured guest speakers from system partners across BNSSG.
Attendees, who represented practices and Primary Care Networks (PCNs) from across BNSSG, said they felt it was vital that service design was locally driven under the neighbourhood model in order to accurately reflect the diversity and varying needs of a large population. They felt services should be designed with input from communities and stakeholders, rather than imposed centrally, and neighbourhoods should reflect natural communities as well as organisational boundaries and prioritise continuity of care.
Dr Jacob Lee, Chair GP Collaborative Board (GPCB), said: “We’re delighted with the number of attendees from across primary care who attended our most recent forum, as this provides an invaluable opportunity for general practice to share ideas, agree on important decisions and, crucially, to speak as one collective voice.
“We’re really grateful to everyone who gave up their time, including our guest speakers, and look forward to seeing such meaningful discussions be developed alongside our system partners.”
The Chief Medical Officer of the new Integrated Care Board (ICB) cluster for BNSSG and Gloucestershire, Dr Ananthakrishnan Raghuram, and Dr Rebecca Maxwell, Hospital Medical Director at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, both spoke about the importance of working with general practice and ensuring that local people are able to access even more community healthcare services in the future.
General practice and PCN attendees said that shared data systems are needed across BNSSG, including with acute trusts and the ICB, to support population health planning. It was also acknowledged that general practice should have better representation and input into system-level decisions, and engagement opportunities should be planned with sufficient notice.
The next Pan-BNSSG Forum takes place on Tuesday 9 June with the Neighbourhood model expected to feature on the agenda once again. If you would like to register your interest in attending, or would be interested in being a guest speaker, please email gpcollaborativeboard@onecare.org.uk to find out more.
More than 100 general practice colleagues unite to discuss Neighbourhood health at March Pan-BNSSG Forum
