Newly-qualified nurses will be offered a two-year fellowship and a contract for employment if they choose to enter general practice.
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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’.
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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.
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Practice teams will be expanded to include a variety of non-GP staff, including district nurses and other allied health professionals.
