S3, Episode 3: The Future of Primary Care

In this episode of Policy Unpacked, Maya Asher-Jones is joined by Dr Jihad Malasi and Yijun Yoon to explore the key findings from Global Policy Network’s latest report, “Shaping the Future of Primary Care: Priorities and Challenges Over the Next Decade.”

Drawing on insights from a high-level roundtable at HETT London, this conversation unpacks the structural and cultural challenges facing primary care systems, and the opportunities to build a more integrated, preventative, and patient-centred model for the future.

Together, they explore what fragmentation looks like in everyday practice, why prevention remains difficult to embed despite widespread consensus, and how voluntary and community organisations can be better supported as core partners in care delivery. The discussion also examines the role of digital transformation, and why maintaining human connection is essential to delivering effective and equitable care.

The episode brings together clinical experience, policy insight, and emerging perspectives to offer a grounded and forward-looking view of primary care reform.

In this episode, we cover:

- Why a structurally unified system can still feel fragmented in practice

- What meaningful integration could look like without dismantling existing models

- The challenges of shifting primary care towards prevention

- The role and fragility of voluntary and community sector organisations

- Digital transformation and the risk of widening health inequalities

- Why human relationships remain central to effective care

Guests:

Dr Jihad Malasi, GP, NICE MedTech Committee Member, and ICS Mental Health Clinical Lead (East Kent)

Yijun Yoon, Global Policy Network Fellow

Additional credits: Questions written by Nabeel Sayed

🎧 Listen now and explore how primary care can evolve to meet the challenges of the next decade.

📄 Read the full report: ⁠https://www.globalpolicynetwork.com⁠/reports