About the Academy
What is the Academy?
The Academy has a huge ambition to help recruit a future workforce, develop the current workforce and support the current workforce focusing on the Recruit, Retrain, and Retain objectives.
Below is a list of some of the things we intend to do:
Recruit | Retrain | Retain |
| Volunteers in general practice | Education and training needs analysis | Practice manager leadership |
| Internships and work experience for schools and colleges | Education and training calendar | Nurse clinical supervision |
| Placements for Widening Access to Medicine Scheme | Cost effective and locally delivered training | Health and wellbeing strategy |
| Attending careers fairs | Shared training resources | Resilience support for general practice |
| Explore new joint funded posts across the local healthcare system e.g- physicians associate | Education and training plan for healthcare assistants, general practice nurses, advanced nurse practitioners and physicians associates | Preceptorship programmes |
| Promote nurse mentors- with the Advanced Training Practice Hub | Development and delivery of GP Forward View practice manager development programmes | Programme for GPwSI training |
| Support student nurse placements- with the Advanced Training Practice Hub | Development and delivery of GP Forward View GP leadership programmes | GP/nurse retention initiatives |
| Support GPN Ready scheme- with the Advanced Training Practice Hub | Development and delivery of GP Forward View practice manager and admin staff development programmes | Mandatory and essential training tool |
| Support HCA apprenticeships- with the Advanced Training Practice Hub | Development of New Models of Care workforce modelling | Nurse engagement/non-medical prescribing/TARGET events |
Why did the Academy begin?
The Academy has been established because general practice is under pressure with increasing workload and the national difficulty in recruiting GP’s alongside an ageing workforce. In addition, the work of the New Models of Care programme has seen the development of new roles in general practice.
In Wakefield, we have rich data about the general practice workforce collated from a three monthly workforce survey that General Practices completed. We almost always get 100% completion by general practices in Wakefield, and below is a summary table about the key findings from the general practice workforce in Wakefield:
| Role | WTE 2014 (%>55) | WTE 2016 (%>55) |
| GP | 227.03 (14%) | 232.49 (16%) |
| Practice nurse | 130.63 (23.5%) | 151.96 (28%) |
| Direct patient care | 65.1 (18.2%) | 80.88 (20%) |
| Practice management | 448.57 (25%) | 478.9 (26%) |
The number of GPs in Wakefield is increasing and compared nationally the number of over 55 years of age is very low.
The total numbers of other staff in the survey has increased but the concern is about the age of the nursing workforce. Nearly a third of the nursing workforce in general practice is over 55 years of age.
The Wakefield Primary Care (General Practice) Workforce Transformation Strategy, published in early 2018, can be found here, alongside the 2017/18 Year End Report here.
