PCNs struggle to recruit pharmacists and ANPs

PCNs are struggling to recruit several roles through the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS), including pharmacists and advanced nurse practitioners (ANPs), according to a Pulse PCN survey.

The results found that 42% of the 228 PCN representatives who responded said they had recruited a pharmacist, but they had found this difficult. An additional 4% said they were unable to recruit a pharmacist.

Almost one fifth (19%) of respondents said they were unable to recruit an ANP, with an additional 18% saying they had recruited, but it was difficult to do so.

Recruitment was also found to be challenging for mental health practitioners (MHP) and physiotherapists, as 42% and 26% respectively said that although they had recruited one in their PCN, this was difficult.

PCNs also reported that they were having to pay greater salaries than the allowances allow for both pharmacists and ANPs. More than half (55%) of the 147 PCNs who answered this question said they had paid over 5% more than their allowances for their pharmacist, with 8% of those paying more than 20% above this.

Meanwhile, 40% of the 60 PCNs who answered the question for ANPs said they were paying extra for these roles, with 12% recording that this was more than 20% above allowances.

One PCN representative said they had experienced difficulties with recruitment as ‘no one had a digital badge’.

‘It feels like unnecessary rules are applied so money cannot be spent,’ they added.

In September, it was revealed that PCNs were at risk of losing out on hiring experienced nurses due to the NHS digital badge scheme, which is a requirement under ARRS.

Another PCN respondent who had employed an enhanced nurse said they had ‘run out’ of ARRS funding and had to employ them through other funds.

A PCN who had recruited a pharmacist said though they found pharmacists ‘east to recruit’, they had found them ‘very difficult to retain’.

Another said all of the ARRS positions have a ‘very high turnover’, with most staying in role for only one year.

It comes as ARRS workforce numbers have dropped over the past six months, according to official figures.

There were 36,862 staff working through ARRS as of 30 September 2024, compared to 37,294 at the end of March, with the biggest drop being among care coordinator and pharmacist staff.

The survey also revealed that almost half of PCNs who responded have given their ARRS staff a pay rise of at least 5.5% since April this year.

This survey was run in collaboration with our sister title Pulse and open between 19 September and 18 October 2024, collating responses using the SurveyMonkey tool. After removing duplicate entries from the same primary care network, a total of 228 PCN representatives from England responded to these questions. For the question on paying above allowances, we removed don’t knows. The survey was advertised to our readers via our website and email newsletter, with a prize draw for a £200 John Lewis voucher as an incentive to complete the survey. The survey was unweighted, and we do not claim this to be scientific – only a snapshot of the PCN population.