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Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme

Under the Primary Care Network DES, Primary Care Networks are able to recruit new roles to expand their care team with NHSE&I with a forecast of 26,000 additional staff working in general practice by 2024.   

The aim of the scheme is to build and utilise the additional roles to solve the workforce shortage in general practice. Whereas the funding will be for new roles being introduced within PCNs, each network will have the flexibility to determine which roles form a core list they require based on their patient population requirements.  

There are some notable changes to the GP contract which includes the addition of nurses in Advanced Practitioner roles as well as reimbursing time for training them.

In March 2023 a NHS primary care workforce report (March 2023) was published showing that there an additional 4,246 direct patient care roles that have been recruited into London PCNs since March 2019. The corresponding national figures are an additional 29,103.

In May 2023 the national team published a suite of documents to support the induction and supervision of the PCN multidisciplinary team. These include:

2023/24 changes to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS)

  • increasing the cap on Advanced Practitioners from two to three per PCN where the PCN’s list size numbers 99,999 or fewer, and from three to six where the PCN’s list size numbers 100,000 or over

  • reimbursing PCNs for the time that First Contact Practitioners spend out of practice undertaking education and training to become Advanced Practitioners

  • including Advanced Clinical Practitioner Nurses in the roles eligible for reimbursement as Advanced Practitioners (APs)

  • introducing apprentice Physician Associates (PAs) as a reimbursable role

  • removing all existing recruitment caps on Mental Health Practitioners and clarifying that they can support some first contact activity

  • amending the Clinical Pharmacist role description to clarify that Clinical Pharmacists can be supervised by Advanced Practice Pharmacists

  • During 2023/24 the ARRS will be reviewed to ensure that it remains fit for purpose and aligned to future ambitions for general practice

NHS England » Changes to the GP Contract in 2023/24.

The maximum reimbursable amounts for 2022/23 period are in the ARRS max reimb 22-23 sheet.  

The DES document and the BMA's primary care network handbook also includes a lot of useful information on ARRS scheme. 

The roles include:  

The NIHR (National Institute for Health and Care Research) have put together a 'who's who in general practice?' This explores key roles in general practice and evidences how research can help practices when introducing new roles.

Resources for Care Coordinators, SPLWs and Health and Wellbeing Coaches

We will keep this page updated with resources from Healthy London Partnership support newsletter for ARRS staff.

Please also check our Resources page and check by your job role or by topic to see further resources including blogs, podcasts, films and booklets that you might find useful.

Past events recordings

  • PCN support session: Setting up a proactive social prescribing service (personalised care DES spec) Recording and slides here:

    • Slide 11 - 14 – detail of the personalised care des spec – what is needed

    • Proactive SP case studies – slide 26 -30

    • Next steps to implement the personalised care DES spec – slide 32

    • Resources and support to coproduce, work in partnership and target cohorts – slide 38 - 39

  • PCN support session: Population Health and the PC ARRS roles: Recording, slides here (individual recordings are linked to the slides)

  • PCN support session: Spotlight on Health and Wellbeing Coaches. Recording, slides and FAQ here

  • PCN support session: Spotlight on Care Coordinators. Recording, slides and FAQ here

  • PCN support session: Embedding the three personalised care ARRS roles: Recording here

  • PCN support session: Using your personalised care roles effectively: Recording here

 External events

Workforce development frameworks for Personalised Care roles

Personalised Care roles include Social Prescribing Link Workers, Health and Wellbeing Coaches and Care Coordinators.

Please refer to the draft documents hosted on Future NHS to support plans around recruitment, training and retention:

Care Coordinator WDF

Health and Wellbeing Coach WDF

Social Prescribing Link Worker WDF

Hiring new SPLW, CC or HWBC?

  1. Make sure they sign up to the London wide peer supports and mailings for their role here

  2. Make sure they are signed up to the Future NHS pages which contain resources for induction as well as continued learning and development

  1. SP national page SP London page

  2. CC national page CC London page

  3. HWBC national page

Training, leadership and funding opportunities

  1. Coaching & Mentoring Handbook

  2. National personalised care Leadership programme (face to face), express interest by emailing: applications@leadershipforpersonalisedcare.org.uk

  3. Inclusion coaching – for those impacted by bias, racism or inequality.

  4. Foundations in System Leadership; collaborating for health and care – Leadership Academy

  5. Personalised care peer leadership programme by NHS Leadership Academy

  6. Management, team and leadership bitesize e-learning by NHS Leadership Academy

  7. Core Managers Programme to provide free inclusive leadership. register for programme on the NHS London Leadership Academy website

  8. Building Coaching Capability – contact runa.begum@leadershipacademy.nhs.uk to find out how to get involved

  9. Unpacking power: two-hour online collective inquiry into our experience of power in the workplace, to expand your potential at work

If you want to find out more about how your surgery can be supported by someone in an ARRS role please contact carolynmatthews@nhs.net.