General Practice Nurse Trainee Scheme
Summer 2020, when we recruited the six candidates from the 80+ applicants, we had a strong belief that this group of nurses would do well. Three of the nurses were newly qualified, two qualified within 18 months and one within three years.
We have engaged with six local practices to become 'Nurse Training Practices'.
| Candidate | Nurse Training Practice | Named Supervisor |
| Laura Fitzjohn | Loomer Medical Group | Jane Welsh |
| Georgina Rowley | Madeley Practice | Jackie Edwards |
| Jodie Woolley | Wolstanton Medical Practice | Julia Nixon |
| Tamika Wilson | Furlong Medical Centre | Laura Butcher |
| Katie O’Reilly | Tunstall Primary Care | Natalie Holdcroft |
| Chelsea Johnson-Edwards | Werrington Village Surgery | Alison Davies |
The trainees have been effectively supernumerary in their training practices which has enabled them to have an enriched learning experience. They have progressed well and are already undertaking cervical cytology, 4 of the trainees have been signed off as competent for this skill (by external assessors) and the other 2 have their assessment planned imminently. In the history of the fundamentals in General Practice Nursing course, this is the quickest this has been achieved. The nurses are now looking to do additional shifts for the Extended Access service to provide cytology clinics, this will of course benefit a significant number of practices.
All of the nurses are also trained in vaccinations and immunisations and are undertaking childhood immunisations, with all of them supporting the covid vaccination programme and some working on behalf of their PCN in the larger vaccination centres.
The focus for the trainees over the next 12 weeks will be the management of long term conditions as they head towards their oral exams at the end of May. This will be challenging in the current climate but they are embracing the ‘digital’ nature of their roles and are being supported by their supervisors to gain exposure and experience.
This project showcasing a centrally employed model, similar to that of the GP Registrar Training Scheme is showing huge value for our member practices and is proving that this method of training our new GPNs, ensures, quality nurses, standardised and supported training that also demonstrates the value of our experienced nursing supervisors. There is ongoing evaluation of the project which we will continue to share with you.
The project team and the trainees would like to take the opportunity to thank the board, the training practices and of course the invaluable support from the supervisors and assessors, for their investment and support of this programme, which is flourishing and is subsequently providing true value to the concept of GPN training practices with a centrally employed model.
The nurses will be available from July for employment, once the fGPN programme is complete.
A report has been shared with Health Education England to request support for an ongoing scheme to ensure momentum for this high quality GPN training.
