Increasing numbers of GPs employed by PCNs

We look at the monthly primary care workforce figures from January, which report on the National Workforce Reporting Service (NWRS) submissions to give a picture of additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) PCN staff across England.

The number of GPs employed by PCNs increased in the month of January by 73, according to the latest primary care workforce statistics.

The statistics, which give a snapshot of the roles employed by ARRS, do not separate ARRS GPs from salaried GPs hired for the PCN extended access DES. But they give an indication of how many GPs are employed through networks in total (249), which has seen an uptick since October 2024 when the GP ARRS role was first introduced (see graph).

It comes as PCNs were told in January to contact their integrated care board (ICB) if they had not yet used their GP ARRS funding, to set out their recruitment intentions.

It was also confirmed that the funding would continue into 2025/26, with a current ringfenced budget of £82m for 1,000 GPs. NHS England has indicated that it plans to remove ‘most’ ringfences in 2025/26, however it has not yet confirmed if this will affect ARRS.

The workforce figures show that pharmacists (5,464), care coordinators (4,853) and social prescribing link workers (2,770) remain the three top roles employed through ARRS as of 31 January 2025. This is despite a drop in the number of pharmacists by 30 compared to the end of December, and an increase in care coordinators by 40.

Physician associate (PAs) numbers continued to fall to 1,143, down four compared to December. The number of PAs has now dropped by 41 since July.

The regulation of the profession began in December, however the role has been subject to controversy over the past few months, with reports of redundancies.

Pulse PCN also reports on the quarterly primary care workforce figures, which alongside the NWRS submissions includes ARRS claims data, to keep a track on the number of ARRS PCN staff in England.

All figures are full-time equivalent.

*While all the above roles from the primary care network workforce statistics are reimbursable under ARRS, NHS England has not confirmed whether the FTE numbers have been claimed for under the scheme.