Expanding our workforce
The needs of our communities, in particular in areas where there are health inequalities, are greater than ever before. Our population is being impacted more and more by complex, long term conditions. There is a growing concern about areas of longstanding unmet health need and the social determinants of health are playing a bigger role than ever before. These new challenges are increasing the pressure on the system to deliver for those in our communities and there is more that we can do to shift our focus from treating those who are unwell to preventing ill health and tackling health inequalities.
The creation of Primary Care Networks (PCNs) builds on the core of current primary care services and enables a greater provision of proactive, personalised and more integrated health and social care. To support PCNs, the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) provides funding for 26,000 additional roles to create bespoke multi-disciplinary teams. Primary care networks assess the needs of their local population and, working with local community services, make support available to people where it is most needed.