Returning to the podcast this week is Tara Humphrey, Managing Director of THC. Tara joins Ben to discuss the current priorities of PCNs. Tara shares her insights into the most significant challenges PCNs are currently facing, touching upon various issues and tensions within these networks. Tara emphasises the importance of interactions within PCNs and how this directly impacts the trust levels among participating practices. The discussion also revolves around the opportunity PCNs have to collaborate, learn from each other, and provide support for one another, all while recognising that all practices share a common goal and are part of the same team. Tara outlines her expectations regarding the infrastructure needed to support PCN staff effectively. The conversation finishes on the topic of security within PCN roles and what steps networks can take now ready for the future.

Introduction (0:09)

Nomination for the 'Great British Business Women's Awards' (0:37)

Identifying the most biggest challenges faced by PCNs now (1:00)

Collaboration issues (1:41)

Challenges and issues within PCNs (2:04)

Tensions within the networks (2:58)

Repairing relationships (4:08)

Issues related to funding (6:22)

Trust within practices (7:23)

The correlation between trust and interactions (8:47)

Inattention to results (10:26)

PCNs adapting to the change of 'access requirements' (11:30)

The value of learning from each other (12:31)

PCN leaders (13:42)

Infrastructure to support staff (14:33)

What infrastructure works best? (16:18)

Security concerns within roles (16:59)

Strategies for tackling uncertainty (18:02)

Recommended steps to take now (19:15)

The current reality (20:33)

For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.

Find out more about Tara and the work she does via her website.