24.02.15
Patient-centred approach needed for primary care workforce planning
Long-term planning for the primary care workforce requires a patient-centred and population-based approach if it is to be effective, according to the NHS Confederation and National Association of Primary Care.
In a joint response to a commission by national training body Health Education England (HEE) on workforce and models of primary care, the bodies stated that an increase in GP numbers alone is not enough to solve the workforce pressures in primary care.
The two organisations argue that a whole-system approach is imperative to the development of a future workforce model, and that there needs to be a population health management approach to better meet the needs of patients. Their proposals include on-the-spot screening on the high street, improving data for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease care and a new outreach role for receptionists.
Dr Nav Chana, chair of the National Association of Primary Care, said: “Building on our joint paper with NHS Confederation ‘Not more of the same’ our evidence submission argues that an increase in GP numbers alone is not enough to solve the workforce pressures in primary care and that primary care workforce planning and the modelling assumptions underpinning must incorporate the skill mix needed to support new, emerging and more sustainable models of care.
“By using current workforce modelling assumptions focused on the model of care we currently have and around individual workforce groups could lead to an unsustainable system.
“Building on the National Association of Primary Care's (NAPC) 7 Point Plan and alongside the NHS Confederation, we have gone on to set out the important principles that both our organisations believe should underpin workforce development for primary care.”
The HEE commission, chaired by Martin Roland, professor of health services research at the University of Cambridge, has been tasked with identifying and highlighting innovative models of primary care that will meet the future needs of patients and the NHS.
To read the NHS Confederation and National Association of Primary Care submission in full, click here.
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