Expanding our workforce
The needs of our communities, in particular in areas where there are health inequalities, are greater than ever before. Our population is being impacted more and more by complex, long term conditions. There is a growing concern about areas of longstanding unmet health need and the social determinants of health are playing a bigger role than ever before. These new challenges are increasing the pressure on the system to deliver for those in our communities and there is more that we can do to shift our focus from treating those who are unwell to preventing ill health and tackling health inequalities.
The creation of Primary Care Networks (PCNs) builds on the core of current primary care services and enables a greater provision of proactive, personalised and more integrated health and social care. To support PCNs, the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) provides funding for 26,000 additional roles to create bespoke multi-disciplinary teams. Primary Care Networks assess the needs of their local population and, working with local community services, make support available to people where it is most needed.
Find out more on each of the ARRS roles provided through South Blaby & Lutterworth PCN below.
Clinical Pharmacists
Clinical pharmacists work in primary care as part of a multidisciplinary team in a patient facing role to clinically assess and treat patients using expert knowledge of medicines for specific disease areas. They work with and alongside the general practice team, taking responsibility for patients with chronic diseases and undertaking clinical medication reviews to proactively manage people with complex medication use, especially for the elderly, people in care homes and those with multiple conditions.
Pharmacy Technicians
Pharmacy technicians play an important role within general practice and complement the more clinical work of clinical pharmacists, through utilisation of their technical skillset. Working within primary care settings allows the pharmacy technician to apply their acquired pharmaceutical knowledge in tasks such as audits, discharge management, prescription issuing, and where appropriate, informing patients and other members of the Primary Care Network (PCN) workforce. Work is often under the direction of clinical pharmacists as part of the PCN pharmacy team.
First Contact Physiotherapists
First Contact Physiotherapists (FCP) are qualified independent clinical practitioners who can assess, diagnose, treat, and manage musculoskeletal (MSK) problems and undifferentiated conditions and, where appropriate, discharge a person without a medical referral. FCPs working in this role can be accessed directly by patients, or staff in GP practices can refer patients to them to establish a rapid and accurate diagnosis and management plan to streamline pathways of care.
Physicians Associates
Physician associates are healthcare professionals with a generalist medical education, who work alongside doctors providing medical care as an integral part of the multidisciplinary team. Physician associates are dependent practitioners who work under the supervision of a fully trained and experienced doctor. They bring new talent and add to the skill mix within teams, providing a stable, generalist section of the workforce which can help ease the workforce pressures that primary care currently faces.
Nursing Associates and Trainee Nurse Associates
The nursing associate is a new support role in England that bridges the gap between healthcare support workers and registered nurses to deliver hands-on, person-centred care. Nursing associates work with people of all ages in a variety of settings in health and social care, including general practice.
Social Prescribing Link Workers
Social Prescribing Link Workers give people time and focus on what matters to the person as identified in their care and support plan. They connect people to community groups and agencies for practical and emotional support and offer a holistic approach to health and wellbeing, hence the name ‘social prescribing’.
Social prescribing enables patients referred by general practice, pharmacies, multi-disciplinary teams, hospital discharge teams, allied health professionals, fire service, police, job centres, social care services, housing associations and voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations get the right care for them.
Link workers typically work with people over 6-12 contacts (including phone calls and face to face meetings) over a three-month period with a typical caseload of up to 250 people, depending on the complexity of people’s needs.
Click here for more information on Social Prescribing
Care Co-ordinators
Care coordinators provide extra time, capacity, and expertise to support patients in preparing for clinical conversations or in following up discussions with primary care professionals. They work closely with the GPs and other primary care colleagues within the Primary Care Network (PCN) to identify and manage a caseload of identified patients, making sure that appropriate support is made available to them and their carers (if appropriate), and ensuring that their changing needs are addressed. They focus on the delivery of personalised care to reflect local PCN priorities, health inequalities or at risk groups of patients. They can also support PCNs in the delivery of Enhanced Health in Care Homes.
Mental Health Practitioner
Mental Health Practitioners working in PCNs take on a ‘first contact’ role. The role involves liaison with practice clinicians, as well as liaison with secondary care, social workers and voluntary sector staff, where appropriate, and making best use of third sector and other community opportunities for promotion of patient wellbeing and maintenance of mental health.
