Over 1,500 GPs hired under ARRS since October, data shows

Over 1,500 newly-qualified GPs have been hired via the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) since it opened up to doctors in October last year, according to new data released today.

NHS Digital has for the first time released figures for GPs (headcount and full-time equivalent) hired via the scheme, after delays to publication and conflicting reports.

In total, 1,503 individual GPs were hired by PCNs under ARRS between 1 October and 31 March, which goes beyond the Government’s goal to recruit 1,000 GPs with the £82m funding pot, as part of a drive to tackle unemployment.

However, the full-time equivalent count as of February this year was lower, at 851 GPs. The recorded and approved claims for March 2025 stood at only 129, but NHS Digital warned that this is a ‘significant undercount’ due to the short time period between the end of March and the data extraction.

The publicly available data, first reported by our sister title Pulse PCN, was calculated using the number of claims submitted by PCNs for GP salary reimbursement, which they have to do for their ARRS employees every month.

‘All figures are based on claims submitted to the portal and approved by ICBs by 31 March 2025,’ NHS Digital clarified.

It also noted that by 31 March, claims for a further 93 GPs employed in the 2024/25 financial year had been submitted by PCNs and were waiting approval – but these GPs are not yet included in the dataset.

Headcount figures were calculated by ‘counting the number of unique GPs for whom at least one claim has been made during the period’, and they were identified by their GMC number.

It is likely the figures will increase in future iterations of the data as PCNs make retrospective claims for reimbursement.

The 2025/26 contract confirmed that funding for GPs in the ARRS would continue for another year and would no longer be ringfenced as separate from the rest of the ARRS funding.

In response to the GP ARRS recruitment figures, the RCGP said they ‘suggest that some positive progress is being made’, but noted the lower FTE figures, which give ‘the most accurate picture of the GP workforce and the care and services GPs are able to deliver for patients’.

Vice chair Dr Victoria Tzortziou-Brown said: ‘Despite these figures, we continue to hear reports from members that many GPs are struggling to find suitable employment upon qualification.

‘The reasons for this need to be identified and addressed. Including visa issues for qualified GPs from overseas who have completed GP specialty training in the UK, as well as tackling unemployment and underemployment for GPs at every stage of their career.

‘Ultimately, what we would like to see is more funding into core general practice, so that GP practices can make decisions, including around staffing, in the best interests of the health needs of their local populations.’

Health secretary Wes Streeting said that it is ‘only because of the necessary decisions’ the Government took to increase employer National Insurance that the NHS was ‘able to recruit more GPs and deliver better services for patients’.

He said: ‘We inherited a ludicrous situation where patients couldn’t get a GP appointment, while GPs couldn’t get a job. By cutting red tape and investing more in our NHS, we have put an extra 1,503 GPs into general practice to deliver more appointments.

‘The extra investment and reform this Government is making, as part of its Plan for Change, will get the NHS back on its feet and make it fit for the future.’

NHS England’s national director for primary care Dr Amanda Doyle said: ‘I would like to thank the general practice teams that have employed significantly more than the 1,000 extra GPs promised to provide care for patients.

‘Improving access to general practice is an NHS priority and GP teams are delivering 29 million appointments every month – up a fifth since before the pandemic.  

‘But we have more to do to make it easier for patients to see their local GP, so practice teams should continue to use this funding to best effect by recruiting more GPs, so more patients can be seen more quickly.’