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Joanna Munden is a GP Partner at a practice in Wallington, Surrey. In this, the final episode of our short series on Physician Associates, Joanna outlines why her practice chose to train and appoint a PA, the value that the PA role brings to her practice and offers advice to other practices thinking of doing the same.

Show Notes

Joanna explains the reasons for appointing a PA (1min 05secs)

The choice to appoint a PA (2min 18secs)

A training practice for PAs (3min 19secs)

How the training works (3mins 48secs)

Not necessary to be a trainer to employ a PA (4mins 24secs)

PAs – a valuable aid (5mins 07secs)

What can a PA do and not do? (5mins 25secs)

Trusting the PA (6mins 33secs)

Perspectives of the role (6mins 57secs)

Overcoming patient concerns (7mins 37secs)

An evolving role (7mins 59secs)

Part of the telephone triage rota (8mins 39secs)

Learning needs assessment and building the role (9mins 06secs)

Continuing support for the role (9mins 56secs)

Supervision and mentoring (11mins 11secs)

The impact of the role (11mins 41secs)

Does size matter? (12mins 21secs)

Skill mix for the future (12mins 40secs)

Recruiting PAs into general practice (13mins 23secs)

The right time to recruit (14mins 18secs)

Lessons learnt – getting the right person and creating the right role (14mins 46secs)

The value a PA brings (15mins 55secs)

Overcoming GP resistance – a missed opportunity (17mins)

The previous two episodes on PAs can be found below:

Episode 40 – Ben talks to two PAs about their experience

Episode 43 – Ben talks to Jeannie Watkins about the national picture

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Louise Ashwood, Anne Macrae and Paula Marsden are practice nurses who are also part-time lead nurses for NHS Lambeth CCG. They have been part of a programme in the Borough to increase the recruitment and retention of practice nurses, expanding the number of practices who offer placements and increasing the number of nurse mentors. They explain to Ben how this works in practice and the impact their efforts have had. They look to the future of general practice nursing and offer advice for other areas.

Show Notes

The nurses introduce themselves (48secs)

The recruitment and retention challenge for practice nurses (1min 18secs)

Addressing the challenges (2min 22secs)

Allocating a lead nurse to each locality (2mins 51secs)

Allocating a lead nurse to a specialist interest (3mins 20secs)

A few hours each for the CCG (4mins 06secs)

Increasing the number of practices who take student nurses (4mins 41secs)

Spreading the enthusiasm – and remuneration (5mins 11secs)

Encouraging mentorship (5mins 51secs)

Mentors gaining confidence (6mins 40secs)

The impact of having more students (7mins 36secs)

Supporting new practice nurses (8mins 10secs)

No problem in releasing nurses to train (8mins 35secs)

Funding from the Community Education Provider Network (9mins 34secs)

A programme of skills training (10mins 19secs)

The role of practice nurses in the borough (10mins 51secs)

Supporting the quality of practice nursing (11mins 41secs)

Healthcare Assistants – an untapped resource (12mins 50secs)

Fulfilling nurses’ potential (14mins 33secs)

The future of general practice nursing (15mins 26secs)

New clinical roles and their impact on nursing (17mins 05secs)

The team approach (18mins 08secs)

The lessons and advice for others (18mins 39secs)

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As well as being a practice nurse in south London, Mia Skelly has a Darzi Fellowship and is part of a project to boost the numbers of nurses choosing general practice nursing. In this podcast she strongly advocates for general practice nursing as a career, overturning some of the myths about the profession along the way and suggests some ways of how the crisis in GPN recruitment and retention might be overcome.

Show Notes

Mia “falls into” Practice Nursing (44secs)

Mia takes the plunge with little or no experience in primary care (1min 39secs)

The challenges of moving from hospital to practice nursing – and the benefits (2min 01secs)

General Practice Nursing is a specialism in itself (2mins 58secs)

Developing a new range of skills (4mins 18secs)

GPNs find it a challenge to access training and development – but it is getting better (5mins 05secs)

“Distracted by the opportunities…” and boosting GPN numbers (6mins 31secs)

Recruitment and retention difficulties – student nurse placements in primary care (7mins 40secs)

The truth about General Practice Nursing (9mins 21secs)

Not enough nurse training practices (9mins 55secs)

Encouraging practice nurse tutors and mentors (10mins 32secs)

Advice for practices reluctant to receive student nurses (11mins 09secs)

Potential for a portfolio career and supporting nurses in their professional interests (13mins)

A career structure for GPNs – a career framework (see below) (14mins 10secs)

Practices working at scale and in new models of care creates greater opportunities for nurses (14mins 59secs)

Practice Nursing and District Nursing (16mins 12secs)

The introduction of new roles into general practice (17mins 22secs)

The crisis in practice nursing – what can be done? (18mins 03secs)

You can follow Mia on Twitter @miaskelly

The education and career framework Mia refers to in this podcast can be found here