The General Practice Assistant (GPA) role was introduced in 2019 in response to growing pressures in primary care. Challenges faced by GP practices included increased workload, recruitment issues, and rising patient expectations. The GPA is a hybrid support role, and GPAs can carry out a range of tasks that contribute to the care of patients, including routine patient-related administrative tasks and basic clinical duties.
Other Clinical / GPA
General Practice Assistant
Programme Update
South East London Workforce Development Hub has delivered training for the GPA workforce from April 2023 to April 2026. The ethos of the procurement was one of partnership across all five London ICS training hubs. There is an intention to bid for procurement in the next few weeks for delivery from April 2026 to April 2029. Funding for this ARRS role for a further three years has been confirmed by NHSE.
Express InterestThe Programme
The programme is delivered against the National GPA competency framework, which requires the learners to be assessed as capable across five domains-see attached framework. The responsibility of assessing competency rests with the employing practice who will receive a supervisor’s fee of £500 per learner at the end of the programme. The learner will require 2-3 hours per week of supervised work-based learning.
The programme has been accredited as a 10-credit module at Level 4 by the University of Greenwich. We anticipate each of the 4 intakes will comprise approximately 25-30 learners from across the London ICS geographies. There are timetabled 90-minute virtual sessions x 15 , usually on a Wednesday morning which are an integral part of the programme and protected learning time.
Expression of Interest
There will be a short gap in course availability while NHS England undertakes a procurement process. However, we are anticipating courses will become available in the Autumn term.
In the meantime, learners can submit an expression of interest available via the GPA Webpage here
