Setting up an Enhanced Access Hub? 6 things you need to know

With many Primary Care Networks (PCNs) set to take on Enhanced Access contracts from April 2025, now is the time to ensure your staffing infrastructure is ready.

While the task may seem daunting, with the right planning, approach, and team, you can build a service that not only meets demand but thrives. 

Dr Kam Ahmed from Unity Primary Care, a local GP Federation, has successfully navigated this process, setting up an Enhanced Access Hub that now serves approximately 180,000 patients in Wolverhampton. Drawing on his experience, here’s what to consider when setting up an Enhanced Access Hub.

1. Identify early adopters and collaborate 

When starting, it’s crucial to work together and secure buy-in from local GP practices. In Unity Primary Care’s case, when faced with skepticism from other GP practices in Wolverhampton, Unity took the initiative to manage the service themselves with a small pool of local practices and build the case for its effectiveness. 

After transferring funding and agreeing on the service hours, the team established an Enhanced Access Hub that flourished. By the end of Year One, Unity Primary Care had successfully demonstrated that the model not only worked but also delivered the service with a profit, ensuring buy-in from more GP practices in the area. 

2. Implement the right technology for efficient scheduling

Managing shifts and staff availability can be a logistical nightmare. To streamline this, the GP practice turned to Lantum’s workforce management platform, which helped them with rota scheduling and administrative work. 

Using technology not only removes the burden of spreadsheets and manual scheduling but also ensures transparency across the team, making it easier to track hours, manage shifts, and handle compliance. As Dr Ahmed says: 

 ”We found Lantum took away a significant amount of burden from the managers, giving autonomy to the booking process, which I think can be the biggest stress sometimes. Especially if you're trying to get the skill mix right. I don't think that it would have gone on this long if we didn't have that mechanism in place.”

3. Plan your staffing and workforce structure 

An essential part of delivering an Enhanced Access Hub is having access to the right workforce, when you need them. For Unity Primary Care, the team consisted of GPs, audiologists, nurse practitioners, and clinical pharmacists, many of whom had prior experience with out-of-hours work. 

Being able to build a bank of flexible staff on Lantum who understand local patient pathways and needs has meant that the service has always been sufficiently staffed. Additionally, for Dr Ahmed’s team, the key from the outset was to keep staffing lean. As he says:

“The model for delivering the service to keep the costs down is that we have one GP on at all times, and build a cohort of staff around that GP."

4. Offer competitive and transparent pay rates

One challenge when managing a new service, and ensuring uptake of shifts is setting fair and attractive pay rates. 

In this case, Dr Ahmed’s team made the strategic decision to pay staff at a higher rate than standard, for all staff types. This transparency in pay helped avoid disputes, build morale and ultimately, fill shifts. In fact, since opening in 2017, Unity Primary Care has maintained an unbroken track record of staying open every day of the year.

Ensure your rates reflect the challenges of the role, especially for out-of-hours work, and keep them consistent across the team.

5. Build flexibility into your service offering 

From the outset, it's vital to stay flexible in how you approach service delivery. Flexibility doesn’t only apply to staff availability but also to the type of services you can offer. As needs evolve, being able to scale up or introduce new services quickly that match the local population's health needs– such as additional services– helps you stay ahead of the curve. 

For Unity Primary Care, as the team already had Lantum set up when COVID-19 hit, they were able to pivot and provide new services, fast. By preparing your systems and infrastructure in advance, you can adapt quickly to any unforeseen circumstances and keep the service running smoothly. 

“Because we were already set up on Lantum, we had our data sharing agreements with practices already through our Enhanced Access. For us to turn around and set up a Red Zone service took less than 24 hours.” 

6. Measure and report on success

Transparency and performance tracking are crucial when running a service like this, but also for accurate reporting to your local Integrated Care Board (ICB). Not only does this help with compliance, but it also allows you to demonstrate how well the service is performing. Ensure you’re using technology that can track the number of patients served, the types of services provided, and can report consistently. 

“With Lantum I can just pull down all the figures within a certain date parameter, so I can look at which staff have been on, what rates, what hours, and I can share that with our ICB, to give them, some assurance of the staff that were on on any particular day, but also from a payroll point of view.”

To find out how Lantum can help you use your flexible staff bank funding efficiently, get in touch with our team or email enquiries@lantum.com