PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
General Practitioners: Recruitment (11 October 2022)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans her Department has to increase funding for Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme to help primary care networks employ the 1,000 additional GP assistants set out in the Government's Plan for Patients.

Asked by:
Feryal Clark (Labour)

General practice assistants (GPAs) were included in the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) in October 2022. Through the scheme, Primary Care Networks (PCNs) are able to claim reimbursement for the salaries and some on-costs of a set of defined roles detailed in the Network Contract Direct Enhanced Service.

Each PCN is entitled to a share of the total national budget, based on the size and needs of its population. The PCN chooses which roles to recruit within these budgets to meet the needs of their patients and constituent practices. The Scheme is kept under continuous review with stakeholders. The introduction of new roles such as the GPA provides PCNs and commissioners with more choice, flexibility and opportunity to utilise their ARRS funding entitlements, increasing the number of patient-facing staff in local general practice teams.

The national budget for ARRS is approximately £1 billion and is expected to rise to more than £1.4 billion in 2023/24. Intelligence gathered on planned recruitment by PCNs and the expenditure of allocations indicates there is sufficient resource to meet expected demand for GPAs.

Answered by:
Will Quince (Conservative)
21 October 2022