The GP behind the petition that opened the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) up to GPs is now calling on the government to allow GPs to work as physician associates, Pulse reports.
Dr Stephen Katona, an out-of-hours GP in Manchester, launched a petition in late December 2023 that the BMA backed a month later.
At the time, the then Conservative Government told GP locums that their access to ARRS funding is an ‘inappropriate’ topic for discussion before contract negotiations were finalised.
GPs were added to ARRS last August after the general election, only for the terms to state that only newly-qualified GPs were eligible, and even then they must not have had a substantive role before working in an ARRS job.
Recent analysis found that hundreds of PCNs in England were yet to recruit a single GP through this funding.
“Allowing unemployed GPs the opportunity to tide themselves over with PA work could help stop the ever-increasing number of GPs leaving the NHS for private practice or pastures abroad, or just retiring altogether from stress,” Dr Katona wrote.
Dr Richard Fieldhouse, NASGP chair, wrote: “I appreciate the sentiment that this could be of benefit to the NHS in terms of short-term retention, but let’s not forget that GPs are real people who care for real people – not simply a means for temporarily propping up the NHS.
“Aligning skills with roles is crucial for maintaining quality and morale, and taking highly-qualified doctors and changing their role from a vocational one to a support one is a step in the wrong direction.
“Rather, the ARRS rules for GPs need to be completely relaxed, and for interim investment to be made ahead of the new GP contract to ensure the thousands of sessional GPs in the UK are retained and employed for the good of NHS patients.”
You can read Dr Katona’s piece in full online at pulsetoday.co.uk.
