The National Association of Primary Care is being taken under the wing of the NHS Confederation to become its primary care provider network.

The move will take place over a transition period up to April 2015, after which point the NAPC will be fully integrated into the Confederation as one of its networks, while retaining its both its name and leadership.

Explaining the premise for the move, NAPC chairman Charles Alessi said the opportunity for greater organisation and innovation within primary care as an integral part of the local care system "has never been greater or more pressing".

The NHS Confederation, he notes, "provides the right platform for us to act as the exclusive vehicle for primary care provision", which will "allow the expansion of our membership base and increase our influence and effectiveness in all areas of our work.”

Matt Tee, NHS Confederation's chief operating officer, said the alliance is "a great fit, given that we represent all other providers and commissioners of NHS care". 

"We envisage this collaboration as an opportunity to further widen the diversity of primary care providers within NAPC and to ensure that they have a central role to play within our membership in shaping future innovative care provision," he explained.

The agreement will have no effect on NHS Clinical Commissioners, of which the NAPC and NHS Confederation are founding partners alongside NHS Alliance.