6 | Nursing in Practice | Winter 2023
The latest news and analysis for nurses working in general practice and the community nursingin practice . co . uk
RECRUITMENT
Less than 1 % of government ’ s 50,000 more nurses are GPNs
The government has been celebrating the recruitment of over 50,000 more nurses to work in England , but figures show the total only includes 361 additional general practice nurses ( GPNs ).
Data published by NHS England in November show the government met its manifesto pledge to have 50,000 more registered nurses , six months earlier than its initial target of March 2024 .
However , when broken down by setting , the data show an increase of just 361 GPNs over the past four years . This represents a workforce rise of only 2 % – from 16,352 GPNs in September 2019 to 16,713 in September 2023 .
This equates to less than 1 % of the government ’ s overall total of 51,245 additional nurses .
Lee Collins , a GPN in Cornwall , told Nursing in Practice that not enough action had been taken to retain nurses in general practice .
ONLINE Scan the QR code for daily news updates
‘ If the government had put policies in place to retain existing GPNs , the figures would look much better . However , retention statements don ’ t look “ sexy ” enough for the government ,’ he said .
Lincolnshire GPN Ali Nixon cited the additional roles reimbursement scheme and pay , terms and conditions within primary care as key challenges .
‘ I have been a GPN for many years and really enjoy my job , working with like-minded nurses to provide care for patients who you get to know . But I don ’ t think I would come into primary care now from an [ NHS ] Agenda for Change contract unfortunately ,’ she said .
The Royal College of Nursing ’ s GPN Forum co-chair Ellen Nicholson added that ‘ the proportionally small increase in general practice nurses seems to show a lack of investment and understanding of the care provided by nurses in general practice ’.
In brief
General practice nurse bids to become Liberal Democrat MP A leading general practice nurse is in the running to become a member of parliament at the next general election .
Ellen Nicholson , national safety and learning lead for general practice at NHS Resolution , has been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Runnymede and Weybridge constituency in Surrey .
Ms Nicholson , who also co-chairs the RCN ’ s GPN Forum , is currently on secondment from NHS Resolution to the Royal Surrey NHS Trust and Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care System .