Medway Central PCN

Patients aged 0–17 reach 23.7%, while over-65s account for only 13.4%

Medway Central PCN serves 46,290 registered patients. The population is younger than benchmarks: 23.7% are aged 0–17 (Medway 21.6%, ICB 20.7%, England 19.6%) and 13.4% are aged 65+ (Medway 17.9%, ICB 19.9%, England 17.9%). An unverified projection estimates 8.7% list growth to 2030 (Medway 7.0%, ICB 6.0%, England 2.3%). Based on area Census usual-resident estimates (not registered ethnicity), 17.8% are from ethnic minority groups, including 6.6% Asian (Medway 5.9%, ICB 4.7%, England 9.6%) and 6.4% Black residents (Medway 5.6%, ICB 3.1%, England 4.2%).

Deprivation reaches 39.5% Core20 share and divides concentration from volume between practices

Across Medway Central PCN, 39.5% of registered patients live in Core20 areas, above Medway at 23.1%, the ICB at 17.1% and England at 21.0%, with an average IMD decile of 4.3 (England 5.5). Weighted practice shares reconcile to 40.0% across 18,519 modelled patients. A 49.0 pp spread separates the practices: Bryant Street Medical Practice has an 81.03% Core20 concentration (6,119 estimated patients), while Maritime Health Partnership holds the larger volume at 12,400 estimated patients (32.01%). Differing practice profiles suggest combining targeted neighbourhood outreach where concentration is highest with scaled routine.

PLUS groups and inclusion health

Recorded learning disability prevalence is 0.9% (404 patients; Medway 0.7%, ICB 0.6%, England 0.6%) and severe mental illness is 1.1% (522 patients; Medway 0.9%, ICB 0.9%, England 1.0%). The catchment includes 41 care homes with 1,159 beds. For the wider local authority, the autumn 2025 rough sleeping snapshot recorded 11 people. Higher recorded prevalence across both inclusion-health registers indicates sustained clinical review need.

Severe mental illness: physical health checks

On the SMI register, 12-month blood pressure checks fell 9.1 pp to 74.1% (England 83.4%, +4.4 pp) and BMI checks fell 14.2 pp to 77.3% (England 82.1%, +5.1 pp), consistent with deteriorating routine physical check completion.

Clinical focus: hypertension and lipids

Hypertension case-finding and control

Hypertension recorded prevalence is 13.0% (5,961 patients), below Medway (15.4%) and England (15.2%), having fallen 2.7% over 2023 to 2025 (England +5.6%). In contrast, process and control exceed benchmarks: 90.5% of patients had a recent blood pressure reading and 75.0% under 80 achieved control to 140/90 mmHg or below (England 67.8%), rising +12.0% over 2023 to 2025. Crude register modelling suggests an unadjusted shortfall of +1,089 to +1,190 patients; lower recorded prevalence could reflect a younger population (13.4% aged 65+ vs England 17.9%), which age-standardised audits would test. Recorded prevalence trails national levels while clinical control is strong, indicating an opportunity to prioritise opportunistic blood pressure case-finding among unrecorded adults.

Lipids and statins

Statin therapy in diabetes with CVD is 80.7% (England 84.4%, Medway 84.2%). Patients with QRISK ≥ 20% receiving lipid therapy reached 62.4% (England 63.6%), rising +1.5% over 2023 to 2025 (England +6.2%). Fewer at-risk patients receive lipid therapy than England rates imply, highlighting an opportunity to prioritise recall audits for high-risk cohorts.

Across 49,656 lipid-modifying items, cost per item was £1.46 (£72,498 total), £17,876 less than at England's unit cost of £1.82. Adult prescribing volume reached 1,679 items per 1,000, below England (4,100). Prescribing spend and item rates sit below national levels, suggesting lower unit expenditure alongside an opportunity to verify whether eligible at-risk cohorts receive therapy.

Clinical focus: respiratory, cancer register and children

Respiratory

COPD recorded prevalence is 1.5%, below Medway at 1.7% and England at 1.9%, having contracted 8.7% over three years while England grew +2.6%. Annual COPD reviews fell 6.8% to 75.9% (England 76.4%, +2.8%). Conversely, asthma reviews reached 69.7% (England 65.7%), and second-hand smoke recording for ages 6-19 reached 84.3% (England 78.8%). However, asthma prescribing for ages 5-19 is 940 items per 1,000 (England 1,488). Slower COPD identification could reflect the younger population (13.4% aged 65+) or case-finding gaps, though this has not been locally confirmed.

Cancer register and children's immunisation

Crude cancer prevalence is 3.0% (1,385 patients), below Medway at 3.7% and England at 3.8%. For childhood immunisations in Q1 2025/26, 6-in-1 coverage at 12 months reaches 94.4% (England 91.0%). However, age-five coverage falls to 77.2% for MMR2 (8 pp below MMR1 at 85.2%; England 82.8%) and 64.8% for the 4-in-1 booster (England 80.9%), below the 95% target by 30.2 pp. Pre-school booster uptake requires targeted catch-up.

Early cancer diagnosis

In NHS Kent and Medway ICB (2022), 55.6% of cancers with a known stage (4,661 of 8,384) were diagnosed at stage 1 or 2, in line with England (55.3%) but below the 75.0% national ambition by 19.4 pp, with known stage recorded for 63.6% of registered cancers (8,384 of 13,189). Reaching 75.0% requires 1,627 extra early-stage diagnoses at 2022 volumes across the ICB. At Medway Central PCN, cervical screening is 72.9% (England 66.8%), but breast screening is 65.1% (England 69.9%), and three-year cancer register growth (+7.7%) trails England (+9.0%). Lower breast screening and slower register growth suggest eligible cohorts could face diagnostic delays unless uptake is supported.

Cancer waits, diagnostics and community services

Cancer waits and diagnostics, Jul 2026 (provisional)

At Medway NHS Foundation Trust (Jul 2026 provisional), 81.6% of cancer pathways met the 62-day referral to treatment standard, trailing the 85.0% standard but exceeding NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (75.9%) and England (71.2%), while Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust reached 87.4% and Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust 50.2%. Medway met the 28-day faster diagnosis standard at 77.8% and the 31-day combined standard at 99.6%. Across all diagnostic tests, 14.2% of patients waited 6+ weeks at Medway (England 23.1%; Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust 6.4%). Acute diagnostic timelines support timely secondary care assessment.

Practice phone access varies by 33.7 pp; overall experience differs by 1.2 pp

In 2025/26, overall QOF achievement reached 93.4% at Maritime Health Partnership and 92.4% at Bryant Street Medical Practice (England 92.5%), while clinical achievement reached 99.1% and 99.8% (England 97.1%). Conversely, vaccination and immunisation achievement lagged England (55.2%) across both practices, spanning a 13.9 pp range from 34.1% at Bryant Street to 47.9% at Maritime Health.

SMI BMI checks fell 14.2 pp while heart failure reviews reached 87.6%

Over 2023 to 2025, physical checks on the severe mental illness register saw the PCN's widest lags against England: BMI recording fell 14.2 pp (England +5.1 pp) to 77.3% (England 82.1%), blood pressure checks fell 9.1 pp (England +4.4 pp) to 74.1% (England 83.4%), and alcohol recording fell 4.3 pp (England +5.4 pp) to 77.3% (England 81.8%). Conversely, heart failure reviews grew 12.9% (England +8.7%) to 87.6% (England 78.5%) and under-80 blood pressure control rose 12.0% (England +3.2%) to 75.0% (England 67.8%).

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