Issue - meetings

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director – People, which described the additional staff roles Primary Care Networks (PCNs) may recruit to, and the plans in place to implement this in Halton.

Members were advised that PCNs were groups of GP practices and other healthcare staff and organisations who worked together to provide integrated services to the local population.  In Halton there were two PCNs, one in Runcorn and one in Widnes, aligning to the geography of the Borough.

The national PCN contract included an Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS), which provides funding to create bespoke multi-disciplinary teams.  PCNs assess the needs of their local population and working with local health services, recruit additional staff to make support available to people where it was most needed.

The report presented details of the roles which may be recruited to in Runcorn and Widnes.  It was noted however that whilst the scheme would facilitate a greater range of staff available to care for patients in the GP setting, there were several challenges that would affect the ability to implement the scheme; examples of these challenges were presented in the report.  Information was provided to Members on how these challenges would and are being addressed by the PCNs.

Members understood the challenges being faced in recruiting to the additional roles for Halton and questioned its achievability, particularly considering the lack of current resources.  They also discussed the fact that there was a high demand for these roles throughout the Country, so there would be competition in the market.  The ‘First Contact Physiotherapist’ role was used as an example, where it was stated the PCN were working with Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals to assist with recruitment of these.

In response to queries on communicating this information to the public, it was recognised that this would be a slow process as patients were not used to receiving care from these roles in a GP setting.  It would be a case of educating patients over time of the existence of these additional roles, so that they felt confident in receiving care from them.

RESOLVED:  That the Board notes the additional staff roles being employed by the PCNs to support General Practice in Halton.