£10 million investment boost to expand general practice workforce

£10 million investment boost to expand general practice workforce Health leaders have today (Monday) announced a £10 million investment to kick start a new plan to expand the general practice workforce. The money will be used to recruit new GPs, retain those that are thinking of leaving the profession and encourage doctors to return to general practice to better meet the needs of patients now and for the future.

NHS England funding will be used to develop a range of initiatives in collaboration with Health Education England (HEE), the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the British Medical Association (BMA) to increase the number of GPs and develop the role of other primary care staff such as nurses and pharmacists.

• To recruit newly trained doctors into general practice in areas that are struggling to recruit, we will incentivise them to become GPs by offering a further year of training in a related clinical specialty of interest such as paediatrics, psychiatry, dermatology, emergency medicine and public health. This work will be underpinned by a national marketing campaign aimed at graduate doctors to highlight the opportunities and benefits of a career in general practice. Alongside this, pilot training hubs based in GP practices will be established in areas with the greatest workforce needs to encourage doctors to train as GPs in these areas. They will also enable nurses and other primary care staff to gain new skills.
• To retain GPs the plan includes establishing a new scheme to encourage GPs who may be considering a career break or retirement, to remain working on a part-time basis. It will enable practices to offer GPs the opportunity to work with a modified workload and will be piloted in areas which have found it more difficult to recruit. There will also be a wider review of existing ‘retainee’ schemes.
• To encourage doctors to return to general practice HEE and NHS England will publish a new induction and returner scheme, recognising the different needs of those returning from work overseas or from a career break. There will also be targeted investment to encourage GPs to return to work in areas of greatest need which will help with the costs of returning and the cost of employing these staff.

The plan is part of the NHS Five-Year Forward View, which set out a specific commitment to tackle workforce issues. The £10 million is part of the recently announced £1 billion additional investment for primary care infrastructure, announced last week which over the next four years will improve premises, help practices to harness technology and give practices the space to offer more appointments and improved care for the frail elderly. NHS England