Health Education England (HEE) should work to develop the role of the practice nurse with ‘funded training’ and ‘targeted investment’, according to the GP partnership review.
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The independent review, authored by GP partner Dr Nigel Watson, highlighted the ‘increasingly important’ role practice nurses play in primary care.
It called on HEE to recognise their role with ‘an agreed programme to develop these roles’, with funding for training. Dr Watson suggested that there could be a practice nurse equivalent of the GP trainer’s grant, where practices would be given money for having nurses placed within practices.
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‘The long term aim should be to develop an integrated nursing team which includes practice, district and specialist nurses,’ the report concluded.
Practices in England currently receive £8,146 per year for taking on GP trainees, but there is no nationwide funding for taking practice nurses.
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The GP partnership review was commissioned in 2018 by then health secretary Jeremy Hunt in order to assess the viability of the current model of general practice, and make recommendations that would enhance it.
