The landmark paper, First Point of Care: A Plan for a Better NHS Front Door through Connected Primary Care, examines why people continue to struggle to access care and sets out 13 recommendations for Government.
It follows an inquiry led by the All-Party Parliamentary Health Group and think-tank Policy Connect which has examined practice, community pharmacy, NHS dentistry and optometry together.
The report argues that patients experience these services as different parts of the NHS’s front door and calls for a more connected approach centred on their needs.
Its findings highlight funding that does not follow need, weak foundations in community pharmacy, dentistry and optometry, workforce capacity that is not being fully used, and fragmented care that can leave patients with unmet needs.
Professor Mariachiara Di Cesare, Director of the Institute of Public Health and Wellbeing, said:
“At Essex, we are committed to generating rigorous evidence that helps address some of society's most pressing challenges.
“This inquiry reflects that commitment.
“By examining the barriers that affect access to primary care and identifying practical, evidence-based solutions, it demonstrates how research and policy can work together to improve people's lives.”
The recommendations include introducing a primary care access standard covering all four sectors, improving access for underserved communities and making inclusive registration standard practice.
The report also calls for open data standards across health and social care, safer adoption of new technology, expanded NHS App and website services alongside guaranteed non-digital routes, and reforms to funding and commissioning.
Other recommendations focus on strengthening the primary care workforce, improving estates, linking neighbourhood health plans with workforce and capital investment, and enabling community organisations to complement existing primary care services.
The inquiry also calls for continuity of care to become a founding principle of primary care, with primary care given a guaranteed voice on every Integrated Care Board.
The report highlights the need to shift NHS resources towards primary care and care closer to home.
Primary care currently accounts for around eight per cent of NHS funding, compared with around 43 per cent for acute hospital care.
The Essex team supporting the report and inquiry included research from Dr Emily Murray and colleagues in the Centre for Coastal Communities on worsening mental health among young adults in deprived coastal areas.
Professor Ewen Speed and Sally Burrows, from the School of Health and Social Care, provided research around Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities' access to healthcare, while Professor Victoria Joffe, Dean of Integrated Care Partnerships offered an insight into house anchor institutions such as Essex can support the reshaping of access to primary care.
You can read the full report via First Point of Care: A Plan for a Better NHS Front Door through Connected Primary Care - Policy Connect
