Celebrating Eight Years of Primary Care Doncaster!

Our CEO, Laura Sherburn, reflects on the achievements, challenges and milestones as we celebrate PCD’s eighth birthday.

Like we often say on birthdays of our children – how did the time go so fast? How is she/he five, or six, or fifteen, or sixteen already?! That’s how I feel as we arrive at PCD’s eighth birthday. It’s a particularly emotional one for me, because it’s the last time I get to celebrate the milestone in my role as CEO. From being there at the birth of the organisation, nurturing its people and steering its growth over the years, the time has come for me to relinquish the controls and let it fly on without me.

I couldn’t be prouder of what PCD is today. I honestly believe that each person in the organisation cares deeply about what they do, and about each other. This makes for a culture that is passionate, value-driven, supportive, and accountable for delivery.

It’s not always easy. As an organisation that exists to serve its member practices through providing services on their behalf, there’s a lot of scrutiny over and sometimes confusion about what we do, and where our place in the system is. PCD is a company limited by shares, so not technically part of the NHS, which can sometimes mean we are treated with apprehension by the statutory bodies and the policy-makers. We provide services on behalf of practices that they could otherwise provide themselves; which can mean that there is sometimes a tendency to compare and contrast our approach with that of individual practices. We rely upon our strong relationships to navigate us through all this complexity, and we work very hard to maintain these on a daily basis.

And we have a lot of success! PCD’s eighth year has seen our Health Van (Vincent Van Cough!) go from strength to strength, delivering services to Doncaster’s most vulnerable communities and giving them access to vital screening, information and treatment that otherwise they would not have accessed. Lives have literally been saved as a result. We have continued to support our practices with back-office functions that otherwise would have increased workload for practice teams, easing the administrative burden for them and consequently allowing them to concentrate on patient care. And we’ve raised thousands of pounds for charitable causes, in recognition of the amazing work that the voluntary sector does, which in turn supports health and social care services. All the while with a quiet but steady grip on the governance of the company, ensuring we meet regulatory requirements, and that our decision-making is fully informed, inclusive and justifiable.

We’ve laughed and cried along the way! We’re only human, and we know it. We set aside time to connect with each other, to decompress, to share, to celebrate, and to learn, at all levels through the organisation. This is what makes the people at PCD capable of the great things they have done and continue to do.

I couldn’t be prouder. Happy Birthday, PCD. Never grow up!!