Newly-qualified nurses entering general practice to be offered two-year fellowship

Newly-qualified nurses will be offered a two-year fellowship and a contract for employment if they choose to enter general practice.

The idea features as part of the NHS Long Term Plan’s efforts to boost recruitment in general practice and expand the non-GP workforce within surgeries, and will incentivise nurses to consider general practice as a first destination job.

The fellowship will offer a ‘secure contract of employment’ alongside a portfolio role ‘tailored to the aims of the individual and the needs of the local primary care system’.

Doctors will be offered a similar contract in the hope that more decide to move into primary care.

The fellowships are part of NHS England’s vision for morphing single GP practices into primary care networks – two or more practices working together to offer services to 30,000-50,000 people.

Practice teams will be expanded to include a variety of non-GP staff, including district nurses and other allied health professionals.