Partnerships
Delivering integrated care across the Durham Dales.
DDHF delivers 20 individual contracts through 93 members of staff and works in close partnership with County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, Tees, Esk and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Durham County Council and the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises.
DDHF is actively involved in the Durham Dales Integrated Neighbourhood Team (INT) which was established in 2024. This group of statutory and voluntary organisations work together to support better health and wellbeing for the local population.
Integrated Neighbourhood Teams
DDHF facilitates the Durham Dales Integrated Neighbourhood Team partnership which was established in 2024.
The programme’s central goal is to mature Primary Care Networks and establish functional INTs by bringing together statutory and voluntary organisations to work together to support better health and wellbeing for the local population.
This transformation aims to improve the health of the entire community, better address health inequalities, and support specific identified populations by improving the delivery of services in a neighbourhood-focused way.
Primary Care Networks
Primary Care Networks (PCNs) are groups of neighbouring GP practices that work together with community, mental health, social care, and voluntary services to provide more joined-up, personalised care for local populations.
By collaborating at scale, PCNs can offer a wider range of services than individual practices alone—such as access to specialist roles like clinical pharmacists, physiotherapists, and social prescribing link workers.
Their focus is on improving patient outcomes, supporting preventative care, and making it easier for people to access the right help, in the right place, at the right time.
The Federation supports PCNs by providing additional capacity, shared expertise, and coordinated services that help practices work more efficiently and effectively. This includes delivering extended access appointments, managing shared digital and operational systems, and supporting workforce development. By working alongside PCNs, the Federation helps reduce pressure on individual practices, enabling them to focus on patient care while ensuring consistent, high-quality services are available across the local area.
NHS Foundation Trusts
DDHF works closely with County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (CDDFT) at an operational and strategic level.
Our Same Day Urgent Care and Extended Primary Care services are located within CDDFT’s Bishop Auckland General Hospital and University of North Durham University Hospital and work closed with Emergency Department staff.
By supporting patients through these services has enabled 93% to remain in primary care – reducing the pressure within secondary care.
Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV) has partnered with DDHF since 2016 to deliver an integrated Community Psychiatric Nurse (CPN) and Primary Care Mental Health Service across the Durham Dales neighbourhood. Together, we have helped patients access the right mental health support at the right time – improving patient experience, strengthening collaboration between services, and reducing the need for crisis intervention wherever possible.