England’s new primary care networks will need new leadership, the GP overseeing them has said.

These leaders might not be GPs and should not be expected to be the doctors who currently run clinical commissioning groups, according to Dr Nikki Kanani, NHS England acting medical director for primary care.

The networks of practices are to be established as part of the new GP contract and will play a key role in recruiting and employing thousands of new ancillary clinical staff. Dr Kanani said she believed that a new generation of leaders was taking an interest in running the networks.

Speaking to the Health Service Journal, Dr Kanani said it didn’t “feel quite right” that CCG leaders should move across to run the networks.

She said networks would be providers of services rather than commissioners, as are CCGs.She was “respecting previous leadership, but we need a new style of leadership, we need to make sure it’s collaborative and connected, and representative,” she said.

She added that other clinicians than GPs could lead the networks. She told the journal that she did not intend to issue too much guidance for fear of “suffocating” the system.