New ways of working to free up doctors as part of the NHS Long Term Plan
Practices large and small will work to support each other and deliver a wider range of specialist care services for patients from a range of skilled health professionals.
Around 7,000 practices across England – more than 99% – have come together to form more than 1,200 Primary Care Networks.
GPs will recruit multi-disciplinary teams, including pharmacists, physiotherapists, paramedics, physician associates and social prescribing support workers, freeing up family doctors to focus on the sickest patients.
The initiative comes alongside efforts to recruit more GPs as part of the NHS Long Term Plan.
The latest figures show an increase of 300 more family doctors on the previous quarter, and the number of young doctors choosing to train as GPs now at a record high after increasing by 750.
There are also thousands more nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals working in general practice than there were just a few years ago.
Another 20,000, who will also include social prescribing link workers, are being recruited to work alongside GPs.
Up to a third of appointments do not need to be with a family doctor, and the new recruits will free up GPs to spend more time with patients who need them most, offering longer appointments to those who need them.
