In a letter to practices, PCNs and CCGs on 11 August, it has been confirmed by NHSEI that a further additional role has been added to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) for PCNs. This is to mirror the People Plan 2020/21 to expand the primary care workforce as an immediate priority for all systems.
To provide additional flexibility to PCNs now, the Chief Nursing office has agreed that Nursing associates will be added 1 October 2020.
The updated GP contract deal provided a legal entitlement to 100% reimbursement for an estimated 9,000 FTEs in 2020/21 under the ARRS, rising to 26,000 in 2023/24. This equates to every PCN having an average of 7-8 staff funded by the ARRS in post in March 2021.
The number of eligible roles expanded in April from two to nine, with further expansion planned in 2021/22 as set out in chapter 1 of the Update to the GP Contract 2020/21.
Your CCGs have been tasked with engaging with Clinical Directors and support the PCNs to complete the workforce planning exercise and engage with Health Education England (HEE) and other local partners to influence workforce supply to meet PCN demand.
CCGs will submit collated PCN recruitment plans for 20/21 to their regional NHSEI team to then enable PCNs to draw up a plan by 30 September to allocate as much of the ARRS funding as possible. By 9 November, CCGs will undertake a similar exercise for 2021/11 – 2023/24 with these plans being agreed with NHSEI regional teams by 30 November.
A workforce planning template is available to use on the NHSE website.
My message is that if your PCN haven’t had discussions with your CCG, now is the time to do so and make the most of these funds.