Pulse PCN’s roundtable on GPs in the ARRS
Pulse PCN’s latest roundtable issues a damning verdict on the Government’s push to support the GP workforce by including them in the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS).
The latest roundtable brings together six clinical directors from across England to discuss the controversial policy of including newly qualified GPs in the ARRS.
The plan was announced in August with the hope that practices will be able to hire 1,000 more doctors this year.
Health secretary Wes Streeting added a ring-fenced £82m to the £1.4bn ARRS pot to fund what he described as an ’emergency measure’. However, the details of the scheme were not published until the end of September with the money becoming available in October.
PCN leaders discuss the measure, the associated salary and job role and how they plan to use this GP in their network.
All agree that the plan is ‘a fudge’ but that most will try to make it work in order not to lose the funding.
Dr Sajid Nazir, clinical director of Viaduct PCN, West Yorkshire, said: ‘I’m afraid that it’s a sticky plaster – a headline solution, which is a good sound bite, but actually is going to be difficult. We’re scratching our heads as to how best to implement the role across the PCN.’
The CDs also shared concerns around the payment for the role undervaluing these new GPs.
Dr Shanika Sharma, clinical director of West One PCN, East London, said: ‘I think there is a risk here that we’re undervaluing the profession. We are in a recruitment and retention mess, and that’s really because the GMS contract is not being funded proportionately to demand and rising populations.’
Pulse PCN editor Victoria Vaughan says: ‘Hiring GPs via the ARRS has come about to support those GPs who find themselves without a job, which ironically, is in part a consequence of the ARRS.
‘In this roundtable clinical directors lay out the problems and challenges of this policy. It highlights potential future, further unintended consequences of this scheme for networks and the profession.’
Pulse PCN’s quarterly roundtables examine the core issues facing PCNs, the tasks they must deliver as part of the PCN Network DES and the work of the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) staff they have hired into primary care.
Read 16 thought-provoking roundtables covering areas such as health inequalities, digital transformation, structured medication reviews and early cancer diagnosis led by clinical directors from across England.
Pulse PCN’s roundtable series is part of our comprehensive offering for our community of PCN clinical directors and their teams. And they are hosted on the dedicated Pulse PCN site making it easier to access these great clinician-led debates.
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