Canterbury North PCN

Working-age adults form 63.8% of the list, while 16.2% are aged 65+

Canterbury North PCN cares for 49,617 registered patients. Working-age adults (18–64) represent 63.8% of the list, above Canterbury (62.9%), NHS Kent and Medway ICB (59.5%), and England (62.7%). Patients aged 65+ make up 16.2% (8,032 patients), below Canterbury (18.4%), the ICB (19.9%), and England (17.9%). Children aged 0–17 comprise 20.0% (Canterbury 18.7%, ICB 20.7%, England 19.6%). Census figures show 83.4% White usual residents in associated areas (Canterbury 89.2%, ICB 88.6%, England 81.1%), which reflects residency rather than registered ethnicity.

Core20 deprivation reaches 25.3% across the PCN but spans 37.3 percentage points between practices

The PCN Core20 cohort is 25.3% (weighted practice share 24.9%), higher than Canterbury (19.3%), NHS Kent and Medway ICB (17.1%) and England (21.0%), with an average IMD decile of 4.9. Deprivation spans 37.3 percentage points across practices, from 37.3% at Northgate Medical Practice (estimated 7,609 patients) to 0.0% at Old School Surgery. Sturry Surgery records 20.1% (3,163 patients) and Canterbury Health Centre records 22.1% (1,597 patients). Targeted outreach should focus on practices where deprivation concentration and caseload volume align.

PLUS groups and inclusion health

The PCN records 655 patients on its severe mental illness register (1.3%) and 305 on the learning disability register (0.6%, matching Canterbury, ICB, and England at 0.6%). Catchment facilities include 21 care homes with 550 beds, though bed capacity does not establish registered residents. With SMI prevalence above Canterbury (1.1%), the ICB (0.9%), and England (1.0%), physical-health checks for this cohort may be the larger workload to protect.

Severe mental illness: physical health checks

Recorded severe mental illness prevalence is 1.3% (England 1.0%). Physical health checks lag national benchmarks: 73.9% had a blood pressure check (England 83.4%) and 73.4% had a BMI recorded (England 82.1%).

Clinical focus: hypertension and lipids

Hypertension case-finding and control

Recorded hypertension prevalence is 11.8% (6,143 patients), trailing Canterbury (15.6%), NHS Kent and Medway ICB (16.2%), and England (15.2%). Over 2023 to 2025, the register fell 8.2% (England +5.6%). Conversely, hypertension patients treated to threshold rose +14.4% (England +3.6%) to 66.4% (England 70.3%), and under-80 blood pressure control reached 62.0% (England 67.8%) after rising +16.1% (England +3.2%). Recent blood pressure readings cover 85.4% of patients (England 90.0%). Improving control alongside a falling register may reflect coding or case-finding gaps; a practice audit would test this.

Lipids and statins

Lipid-lowering therapy for QRISK ≥ 20% is 55.6%, trailing Canterbury (59.1%), the ICB (61.4%), and England (63.6%), despite rising +4.1% over 2023 to 2025 (England +6.2%). Diabetes statin coverage without CVD is 65.4% (England 73.2%) and CKD lipid therapy is 63.3% (England 70.3%). Treatment rates remain below national comparators across high-risk groups.

In 2026, PCN cost per item for lipid-regulating drugs was £2.40 across 49,765 items, above Canterbury (£2.23), NHS Kent and Medway ICB (£1.90), and England (£1.86). The PCN spends £26,873 more than at England's unit cost. This unit-cost indicator does not reflect case-mix or clinical appropriateness.

Clinical focus: respiratory, cancer register and children

Respiratory

Asthma prevalence is 5.2% (2,562 patients; England 6.6%), and COPD prevalence is 1.6% (807 patients; England 1.9%). Annual review completion lags comparators: asthma reviews reached 48.0% (England 65.7%, ICB 60.4%), leaving a scale gap of about 1,300 unreviewed patients. COPD reviews reached 61.0% (England 76.4%), falling 3.9% over 2023 to 2025 (England +2.8%). These shortfalls could reflect recall capacity constraints; cohort searches would test this.

Cancer register and children's immunisation

Cancer prevalence is 3.6% (1,855 patients; England 3.8%). In Q1 2025/26, childhood immunisations meet the 95.0% target at 24 months (97.3% for 6-in-1; 95.5% for MMR dose 1). At age 5, MMR dose 2 is 81.1% (13.9 pp below the 95.0% target) and the 4-in-1 booster is 80.3%, showing a 10.6 pp difference between MMR doses across 132 children.

Early cancer diagnosis

In Canterbury North PCN, cervical screening coverage in women aged 25-49 is 58.9%, below Canterbury (66.9%), England (66.8%) and NHS Kent and Medway ICB (69.9%), despite a +6.0% three-year increase. Across practices, uptake ranges from 54.4% at Sturry Surgery and 57.4% at Northgate Medical Practice to 74.3% at Old School Surgery. Breast screening coverage is 69.2% (Canterbury 74.4%). Across NHS Kent and Medway ICB in 2022, 55.6% of cancers with a known stage (4,661 of 8,384) were diagnosed at stage 1 or 2 (England 55.3%), against the 75.0% national ambition by 2028.

Cancer waits, diagnostics and community services

Cancer waits and diagnostics, Jul 2026 (provisional)

For East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust in provisional July 2026 data, 70.0% of cancer pathways met the 62-day standard against the 85.0% target (Medway NHS Foundation Trust 81.6%, NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board 75.9%, England 71.2%). The trust achieved 71.3% against the 75.0% 28-day faster diagnosis standard (England 79.3%). July 2026 diagnostic 6+ week waits at the trust reached 63.0% for non-obstetric ultrasound, 47.6% for MRI, and 37.4% for CT (England 9.9%). These acute figures describe system capacity, not PCN performance.

Phone access spans 40.8 percentage points across practices, alongside marked immunisation variation

Overall QOF achievement spans from 87.5% at Old School Surgery to 93.9% at Canterbury Health Centre (England 92.5%). Clinical domain achievement ranges from 94.5% to 99.9%. Vaccination and immunisation achievement varies by 33.7 pp, from 16.4% at Sturry Surgery to 50.1% at Canterbury Health Centre (England 55.2%), which could reflect recall differences; practice audits would test this.

Seventeen of 25 measures trail England's three-year change, led by heart failure reviews

Across 25 tracked measures, 17 trail England's three-year change. The largest lags are in heart failure reviews, which fell 19.6% over 2023 to 2025 (England +8.7%), COPD reviews, which fell 3.9% (England +2.8%), and recorded hypertension prevalence, which fell 8.2% (England +5.6%). Conversely, blood pressure control under age 80 rose +16.1% (England +3.2%), hypertension treated to target rose +14.4% (England +3.6%), and diabetes without frailty HbA1c control rose +12.0% (England +4.4%). Slower register growth alongside rising treatment control could reflect coding shifts or case-finding gaps; a register audit would test this.

What the data can't tell us: gaps and local assets

Options for the PCN

Each option in full

Provenance and audit trail

Figures are the profile's, drawn from Coplug indicator tables: census, deprivation and QOF measures, MHCLG, Rough sleeping snapshot in England: autumn 2025, OHID, Fingertips diabetes by frailty status: HbA1c control (93712, 93713) and OHID, Fingertips falls: emergency admissions, 65+ and 65 to 79 (22401, 22402), accidental-fall deaths (94002). Every recommended action and option is the profile's own; the evidence-base statements that support them — what each register is the cohort for, and the national policy it serves — are quoted from Coplug's indicator catalogue. No recommendation in this report is authored outside the profile and that catalogue. ICB- and provider-level data (page 8) describes the system the PCN sits in and is not read as PCN performance.

Data sources

Every figure in this profile comes from a dataset below, at the level and period stated. Nothing published above PCN level is read as PCN performance.

Methods, data-quality notes and limitations