NHS England has launched a national public consultation on how local healthcare services should be organised in the future. The proposals introduce two new ways of coordinating community care: Single Neighbourhood Providers (SNPs) and Multi-Neighbourhood Providers (MNPs).

Because these proposed changes affect how healthcare teams collaborate across our practices, your Patient Participation Group (PPG) is currently reviewing the consultation details to formulate an official response on behalf of our patient community.

What are SNP and MNP models?

Currently, our local GP surgery, district nurses, mental health specialists, and social care teams often operate under separate NHS contracts. The government wants to bring these wrap-around services closer together into Integrated Neighbourhood Teams.

To support this, NHS England is testing two local contract options:

• Single Neighbourhood Providers (SNPs): Designed to join up primary and community care for a single local PCN footprint (typically serving around 30,000 to 50,000 people). Under an SNP, local GP practices, community nurses, and local health workers collaborate under one neighbourhood arrangement.

• Multi-Neighbourhood Providers (MNPs): Designed to hold an "umbrella" contract across a much larger footprint (covering 250,000+ people across Mid Sussex). An MNP coordinates services centrally across multiple neighbourhoods, helping standardise care and manage resources at scale.

Why is this important for our practices?

Our local Primary Care Network (PCN) covers roughly 45,000 patients across our member practices. On paper, our total population aligns well with a Single Neighbourhood Provider model.

Because our practices work together as a network to deliver services across multiple surgery locations, decisions made by NHS Sussex on whether to adopt a strictly local SNP model or a broader MNP model will determine:

• How wrap-around staff (like physiotherapists, clinical pharmacists, and health coaches) are managed alongside our GP surgeries.

• How community nursing and social care teams are integrated with primary care to support patients across all our practice sites.

What does this mean for your day-to-day care?

• Your GP practice remains open and unchanged: Core GP contracts (GMS/PMS) are not part of this consultation. Surgeries are not closing, and you will remain registered with your current practice and GP.

• No changes to appointment booking: This consultation is about how backend community teams and additional healthcare staff are organised behind the scenes.

• Your voice is being represented: The PPG is actively evaluating how these models will impact patient care quality, access, and local decision-making.

Next Steps & How to Have Your Say

The PPG committee is meeting to discuss the key strategic questions surrounding these models and will submit a formal, consensus-based submission to NHS England prior to the 10 September deadline.

Individual patients, carers, and community members are also welcome to read the consultation documents and submit their own personal feedback directly.

👉 Click here to view the NHS England Consultation & Submit Individual Feedback

We will update patients via our website once the PPG's official response has been finalised and submitted.