RCGP to support hundreds more GP practices through NHS England’s General Practice Improvement Programme

The Royal College of GPs has been awarded a significant one-year contract by NHS England to support delivery of the General Practice Improvement Programme (GPIP) by working with hundreds of GP practices across England, as part of the Primary Care Recovery Plan. 

As part of the programme, the RCGP team will provide a hands-on package of support to practices, delivered over four to six months. This will include facilitated in-person sessions and a tailored analysis of practice demand and capacity. Participating practices will benefit from on-site support from experienced and skilled facilitators as well as group-based learning sessions to facilitate peer to peer learning and sharing of experiences across practices.  

The RCGP is drawing on the experience, learnings and resources gained from its successful Primary Care Development programme to deliver this project. The NHSE contract agreement began this month (April 2024), and the College is due to begin working with practices from July 2024.  

GPs and their teams right across the country are facing intense resource and workforce pressures as patient need for their care increases while GP numbers have fallen over recent years. These challenges are often most acute in practices operating in areas of high deprivation, and in rural areas. 

The objectives of GPIP overall, are to support practices and Primary Care Networks to move to the modern general practice model in order to:   

• improve how patients access the practice  
• improve assessment and streaming to the appropriate response  
• make full use of a multi-professional team 
• improve patient experience 
• build in-house capability to sustain improvement 

The programme aims to work with practices to implement supportive strategies and realise benefits quickly. 

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “GPs and their teams are working under intense pressures to deliver care for their patients, so the College is looking forward to working with practices on the ground to deliver much needed support. We have years of experience through our successful Primary Care Development programme, which we can bring to help ensure delivery of this programme is successful for the future of general practice, and to help ensure the expertise of the GP profession is a key part of implementation.”   

Places for 2024/25 are limited and nominations are being managed via ICBs to increase links to local support. Sessions begin in July and interested practices should contact their ICB, or email england.pctgpip@nhs.net for further information. 

To find out more, visit the NHS England National General Practice Improvement Programme guide.

Further information

RCGP press office: 0203 188 7659
press@rcgp.org.uk

Notes to editors

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 54,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.