Podcast – Dr Zalan Alam – How Rochdale Is Implementing the National Neighbourhood Programme

About this episode

Ben Gowland interviews Dr Zalan Alam about Rochdale's implementation of the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme and its impact on patient care.

  In the first episode of 2026, Ben is joined by Dr Zalan Alam, General Practitioner, Director of Medical Education and GP Partner, to explore Rochdale’s selection as a site for the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP) and what this means in practice for general practice and PCNs. The discussion focuses on improving patient journeys, particularly for frail patients and those in the last year or 1,000 days of life, by strengthening connectivity between primary care, community services, hospices, ambulance services and acute trusts, using standardised frailty assessments, shared care plans and tools such as the Greater Manchester Care Record. The episode also covers targeted neighbourhood working in Rochdale South, the importance of peer leadership and measurable impact for frontline practices, and what comes next as the programme moves from planning into delivery, with an emphasis on locally adaptable models rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Introduction (00:08) Why Rochdale was selected for NHIP (00:29) Population, PCNs and deprivation (01:22) How the programme is structured (02:42) Early priorities and patient journey focus (03:35)…

People in this episode

Host: Ben Gowland

Guest: Dr Zalan Alam

Topics covered

• National Neighbourhood Programme
• patient journeys
• frail patients
• primary care
• community services
• neighbourhood working

Keywords

• Rochdale
• National Neighbourhood Programme
• patient journeys
• frailty assessments
• community services
• primary care networks
• shared care plans

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme

Places: Rochdale, Greater Manchester

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