A £10m workforce plan has been launched to encourage GPs to stay practicing.
Launched by NHS England the plan will promote the positive aspects of general practice and will offer older GPs payments to mentor younger GPs or the option of a portfolio career.
NHS England says the money, which will be reallocated from the Government’s £1bn general practice infrastructure fund, will also create a new national retainer scheme and set up ‘training hubs’ to allow practice staff to extend their skills.
The ‘10 point plan’ has been designed together with Health Education England (HEE), the GPC and RCGP.
The plan includes several of the recommendations from the GP Taskforce report published in July 2014, such as for example the marketing campaign, funding of a new returner scheme, focusing incentives to GPs willing to work in under-doctored areas and offering flexible career paths for older GPs.
However it also omits several recommendations, including a proposal to make exposure to general practice mandatory for trainees in all medical specialties or decommissioning other specialty training posts to pay for more GP posts.
NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens said: ‘We need greater investment in GP services, extending to community nursing, pharmacy and eye care services. This £10m will kick start a range of initiatives to drive that forward so every community has GP services that best meets its health needs.’
