Primary Care

What is Primary Care?

Primary care services are health services that are provided in the community or your own home. They can be provided by a family practitioner – a GP, pharmacist, dentist or optician or by a community nurse, midwife or therapist. In the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and South East Hampshire, there are:

383 general practitioners working from 96 general practices
222 general dental practitioners at 105 locations
189 ophthalmic opticians
121 community pharmacists

Primary Care Trusts

The Secretary of State, Alan Milburn, approved plans to create on April 1^st 2001 three new Primary Care Trusts covering parts of the new Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and South East Hampshire Health Authority area.

The decision means that East Hampshire Primary Care Trust, the Isle of Wight Primary Care Trust and Portsmouth City Primary Care Trust are new free standing, statutory bodies, responsible for delivering better health care to the local population.

As Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) they have full responsibility for funding health services for their residents and providing most community health services. They will carry out many of the functions previously performed by the health authorities (Isle of Wight Health Authority and Portsmouth and South East Hampshire Health Authority). They will also be able to provide a range of community health services.

The overall functions of Primary Care Trusts are to:

• improve the health of the community
• develop primary and community health services
• commission secondary care (hospital) services

East Hampshire Primary Care Trust covers the whole of Havant Borough and those parts of East Hampshire District and Winchester City. It serves a population of 174,960 and includes 27 GP practices.

Fareham and Gosport Primary Care Trust covers the Borough Council areas of Fareham and Gosport, serves a population of around 187,000 and includes 21 GP practices.

Isle of Wight Primary Care Trust serves the population of the Isle of Wight of 132,980 people and includes 17 GP practices.

Portsmouth City Primary Care Trust covers the whole of Portsmouth City, with a boundary coterminous with that of Portsmouth City Council.