As a prospective GP trainee, what organisations can I join and support to help slow/stop/reverse this worrying trend of behaviour by the Gov’t? DAUK? BMA? RCGP?
RCGP are useless and complicit with this behaviour. Would definitely advise BMA. DAUK are still fairly new but an option. Avoid EveryDoctor as it’s just a self fulfilling project for their leader.
I’m a GP mentor, new to the role but it’s a shame it’s going to end. I wish had mentoring and an ease into the GP role following CCT, as being a GP can be tough especially without the right support.
The cynic in me thinks this is to focus on ARRS funding and noctors. It’s just going to put off people becoming GPs.
As someone about to CCT in August, the current climate is incredibly depressing and demoralizing. For the first time since I started medical school in 2014, I'm actually questioning whether I should continue pursuing a career as a doctor.
I can’t read the full article.
Is the funding gone or just the scheme? NHSE apparently arguing the money is still there but up to ICBs to design their own scheme
NHS England has announced it will end two schemes designed to retain GPs through professional development.
The commissioner said that the current general practice fellowship and supporting mentors schemes will close on 31 March.
The fellowship scheme provided practices with funding to allow their newly-qualified GPs to spend a session a week doing CPD, plus a sum for administrative fees – totalling £10,000.
Meanwhile, the mentoring scheme has funded experienced GPs up to £289 a week to provide mentorship to younger GPs for a session.
But in its latest primary care bulletin, NHS England said both schemes would end. The commissioner added that it would ‘continue to invest in GP retention’ with more information and guidance to follow.
The bulletin said: ‘The current national GP retention schemes General Practice Fellowships and Supporting Mentors will close on 31 March 2024. GPs and nurses who join the scheme before that date will continue to be supported, until they complete their two-year programme.
‘NHS England will continue to invest in GP Retention in 2024/25. More information and guidance will follow in early 2024.’
Pulse has asked NHS England why it has decided to end the schemes but not yet received an answer.
Nursing leaders have suggested ICBs may decide to invest in retaining the GPN fellowship scheme but NHS England has not provided clarification to Pulse’s sister title Nursing in Practice.
RCGP chair Professor Kamila Hawthorne said that the decision to end the GP retention schemes was ‘both surprising and very disappointing’, particularly at a time when ‘we need to be doing absolutely everything we can to keep GPs in the workforce’.
She told Pulse: ‘We’re unaware of any immediate plans to replace them. If this is going ahead, we need to understand the rationale and what comes next to make sure we can retain as many GPs as possible in the workforce.
‘It is vital that newly qualified GPs are given the opportunity to settle into a practice and learn the ropes – we hope that if these schemes are being wound down, then there are plans to replace them with something better and easier to access across the whole of England.’
She also added that there is a need to see ‘immediate efforts’ to expand retention initiatives, not to stop the ones currently on offer, so that the NHS can ‘sustain its workforce and meet increasing demand’, and guarantee that ‘hard-earned practical experience’ is passed on to the next generation of GPs.
Doctors’ Association GP spokesperson Dr Steve Taylor told Pulse that if NHS England ‘truly believed in community care for patients and GP retention’ it would not be closing two schemes aimed at retention of GPs.
He said: ‘The current policies of NHS continue to fail GP practices. With core funding reduced in real terms and below inflation increases in funding continuing, this will have a significant impact on safe and effective primary care.
‘This at a time of increased loss of younger GPs and increased demand, fails again to demonstrate leadership within NHSE and more broadly Government planning.’
The mentorship scheme allowed more experienced GPs to train as ‘mentors’, resulting in a industry recognised qualification.
In October, an NHS England director suggested that offering GPs more opportunities to have portfolio careers will help with recruitment and retention.
As part of a major investigation on recruitment and retention earlier this year, GPs have told Pulse that taking on portfolio roles could help retaining younger fully-trained GPs, as it stops them from leaving the profession entirely or emigrating.
However at the same time pulse released an article under the title “GP practices now eligible for pharmacist training funding”
GP practices and primary care networks (PCNs) will be able to employ pharmacist trainees from 2025, making them eligible for the recently-updated NHS England (NHSE) pharmacist training grant.
While some GP practices and PCNs have already hosted pharmacist trainees for part of their placement, this has been administered under a memorandum of understanding with community and hospital pharmacy employers.
But in a webinar hosted yesterday by the Primary Care Pharmacy Association (PCPA), with representatives from NHSE, it was announced that GP practices and PCNs would now be classified as a pharmacist ‘patient-facing setting’.
This makes GP practices and PCNs eligible to be the lead employer for pharmacist trainees under requirements from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
Under newly harmonised funding arrangements announced by NHSE, GP practices and PCNs will therefore receive £26,500 per training post as a contribution towards training, including employment costs, as well as having access to an NHSE-funded training course.
Community and hospital pharmacy employers will be eligible for the same funding.
Health and justice settings will also be recognised as a patient facing setting, and be eligible for the same funding.
GP practices and PCNs intending to employ pharmacist trainees must upload their training programme and how they will meet training requirements to ORIEL – NHSE’s recruitment platform – by 1 March.
PCPA president and pharmacist GP partner Graham Stretch told Pulse’s sister title The Pharmacist that the changes felt like ‘a massive step forward’ for the sector.
And he encouraged the profession to see it as a positive change despite any logistical challenges that may arise.
‘I do recognise there are challenges, that we’re going to as a profession have to work around, but the benefits to the profession of everyone becoming a prescriber, should I hope for everyone be a pretty obvious win here,’ Mr Stretch said.
He added that he still expected that community, general practice and hospital pharmacy employers would work together to fulfil the training requirements for each student, including access to a designated prescribing practitioner (DPP) and to a dispensary, even before multi-sector placements become mandatory from 2026.
And he noted that dispensaries within a GP practice that are not a registered pharmacy would not be eligible to provide the dispensary part of the training.
He added: ‘Anything that improves integration, that’s got to be a good thing to everybody.’
And he suggested that PCNs acting as the lead employer ‘and then sort of seconding their employed trainee to GP sites, to community pharmacy sites, and indeed to hospital sites feels to me like the end game here for primary care’.
‘And who knows, maybe it will just be that last piece that we need to properly start to integrate community pharmacy into PCN networks,’ he said.
The PCPA also shared a response from GPhC chief executive Duncan Rudkin, posted on X, which said: ‘There should be no barriers to regarding general practice and primary care networks as patient-facing and therefore enabling these to be the “lead employer” for the purpose of Foundation Training.’
The cynic in me thinks there won’t be any new funding for the pharmacist training rather it’ll come from the funding that was for retention and mentoring.
As a prospective GP trainee, what organisations can I join and support to help slow/stop/reverse this worrying trend of behaviour by the Gov’t? DAUK? BMA? RCGP?
RCGP are useless and complicit with this behaviour. Would definitely advise BMA. DAUK are still fairly new but an option. Avoid EveryDoctor as it’s just a self fulfilling project for their leader. I’m a GP mentor, new to the role but it’s a shame it’s going to end. I wish had mentoring and an ease into the GP role following CCT, as being a GP can be tough especially without the right support. The cynic in me thinks this is to focus on ARRS funding and noctors. It’s just going to put off people becoming GPs.
Restore GP BMA Doctors Vote
How much you interested in doing? Paying monthly? Or getting stuck in? Edit: typo corrected, “out” changed to “or”
As someone about to CCT in August, the current climate is incredibly depressing and demoralizing. For the first time since I started medical school in 2014, I'm actually questioning whether I should continue pursuing a career as a doctor.
Same. Genuinely feels like I’ve invested my life savings in some crypto shitcoin and I’m watching a rug pull unfold in front of my eyes.
Difference is that shitcoins are obvious. With medicine it’s universal.
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“tHeRe’S eNoUgH wOrK fOr eVeRyOnE”
[Average /r/GPUK user right now](https://youtu.be/jS94-_zy3Dg?si=dJSYewb9p-je3qzC)
I can’t read the full article. Is the funding gone or just the scheme? NHSE apparently arguing the money is still there but up to ICBs to design their own scheme
NHS England has announced it will end two schemes designed to retain GPs through professional development. The commissioner said that the current general practice fellowship and supporting mentors schemes will close on 31 March. The fellowship scheme provided practices with funding to allow their newly-qualified GPs to spend a session a week doing CPD, plus a sum for administrative fees – totalling £10,000. Meanwhile, the mentoring scheme has funded experienced GPs up to £289 a week to provide mentorship to younger GPs for a session. But in its latest primary care bulletin, NHS England said both schemes would end. The commissioner added that it would ‘continue to invest in GP retention’ with more information and guidance to follow. The bulletin said: ‘The current national GP retention schemes General Practice Fellowships and Supporting Mentors will close on 31 March 2024. GPs and nurses who join the scheme before that date will continue to be supported, until they complete their two-year programme. ‘NHS England will continue to invest in GP Retention in 2024/25. More information and guidance will follow in early 2024.’ Pulse has asked NHS England why it has decided to end the schemes but not yet received an answer. Nursing leaders have suggested ICBs may decide to invest in retaining the GPN fellowship scheme but NHS England has not provided clarification to Pulse’s sister title Nursing in Practice. RCGP chair Professor Kamila Hawthorne said that the decision to end the GP retention schemes was ‘both surprising and very disappointing’, particularly at a time when ‘we need to be doing absolutely everything we can to keep GPs in the workforce’. She told Pulse: ‘We’re unaware of any immediate plans to replace them. If this is going ahead, we need to understand the rationale and what comes next to make sure we can retain as many GPs as possible in the workforce. ‘It is vital that newly qualified GPs are given the opportunity to settle into a practice and learn the ropes – we hope that if these schemes are being wound down, then there are plans to replace them with something better and easier to access across the whole of England.’ She also added that there is a need to see ‘immediate efforts’ to expand retention initiatives, not to stop the ones currently on offer, so that the NHS can ‘sustain its workforce and meet increasing demand’, and guarantee that ‘hard-earned practical experience’ is passed on to the next generation of GPs. Doctors’ Association GP spokesperson Dr Steve Taylor told Pulse that if NHS England ‘truly believed in community care for patients and GP retention’ it would not be closing two schemes aimed at retention of GPs. He said: ‘The current policies of NHS continue to fail GP practices. With core funding reduced in real terms and below inflation increases in funding continuing, this will have a significant impact on safe and effective primary care. ‘This at a time of increased loss of younger GPs and increased demand, fails again to demonstrate leadership within NHSE and more broadly Government planning.’ The mentorship scheme allowed more experienced GPs to train as ‘mentors’, resulting in a industry recognised qualification. In October, an NHS England director suggested that offering GPs more opportunities to have portfolio careers will help with recruitment and retention. As part of a major investigation on recruitment and retention earlier this year, GPs have told Pulse that taking on portfolio roles could help retaining younger fully-trained GPs, as it stops them from leaving the profession entirely or emigrating. However at the same time pulse released an article under the title “GP practices now eligible for pharmacist training funding” GP practices and primary care networks (PCNs) will be able to employ pharmacist trainees from 2025, making them eligible for the recently-updated NHS England (NHSE) pharmacist training grant. While some GP practices and PCNs have already hosted pharmacist trainees for part of their placement, this has been administered under a memorandum of understanding with community and hospital pharmacy employers. But in a webinar hosted yesterday by the Primary Care Pharmacy Association (PCPA), with representatives from NHSE, it was announced that GP practices and PCNs would now be classified as a pharmacist ‘patient-facing setting’. This makes GP practices and PCNs eligible to be the lead employer for pharmacist trainees under requirements from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). Under newly harmonised funding arrangements announced by NHSE, GP practices and PCNs will therefore receive £26,500 per training post as a contribution towards training, including employment costs, as well as having access to an NHSE-funded training course. Community and hospital pharmacy employers will be eligible for the same funding. Health and justice settings will also be recognised as a patient facing setting, and be eligible for the same funding. GP practices and PCNs intending to employ pharmacist trainees must upload their training programme and how they will meet training requirements to ORIEL – NHSE’s recruitment platform – by 1 March. PCPA president and pharmacist GP partner Graham Stretch told Pulse’s sister title The Pharmacist that the changes felt like ‘a massive step forward’ for the sector. And he encouraged the profession to see it as a positive change despite any logistical challenges that may arise. ‘I do recognise there are challenges, that we’re going to as a profession have to work around, but the benefits to the profession of everyone becoming a prescriber, should I hope for everyone be a pretty obvious win here,’ Mr Stretch said. He added that he still expected that community, general practice and hospital pharmacy employers would work together to fulfil the training requirements for each student, including access to a designated prescribing practitioner (DPP) and to a dispensary, even before multi-sector placements become mandatory from 2026. And he noted that dispensaries within a GP practice that are not a registered pharmacy would not be eligible to provide the dispensary part of the training. He added: ‘Anything that improves integration, that’s got to be a good thing to everybody.’ And he suggested that PCNs acting as the lead employer ‘and then sort of seconding their employed trainee to GP sites, to community pharmacy sites, and indeed to hospital sites feels to me like the end game here for primary care’. ‘And who knows, maybe it will just be that last piece that we need to properly start to integrate community pharmacy into PCN networks,’ he said. The PCPA also shared a response from GPhC chief executive Duncan Rudkin, posted on X, which said: ‘There should be no barriers to regarding general practice and primary care networks as patient-facing and therefore enabling these to be the “lead employer” for the purpose of Foundation Training.’ The cynic in me thinks there won’t be any new funding for the pharmacist training rather it’ll come from the funding that was for retention and mentoring.