Primary care is currently facing significant workload pressures with expectation from NHSE that practices should continue to offer access to primary care services.
Practices are wrestling with a number of workload/ workforce issues.
- Managing patients suffering with COVID19 who are presenting to primary care
- Implementing the COVID 19 vaccination programme
- Meeting the needs of patients with non COVID 19 related problems during what is normally the busiest time of the year for GP appointments.
- Meeting some of the backlog in long term condition care from the current and previous lockdowns
- Developing preventative/screening programmes to identify patients with cancer and other illnesses who may not have presented during the COVID 19 crisis.
- Staff absence from those suffering from COVID-19 or self-isolating.
Patients presenting with MSK related problems represent between 20-30% of all GP appointments. Many PCNs and practices are looking to employ physiotherapists and podiatrists to work in First Contact Practitioner roles as part of the ARRS funding scheme.
One of the largest independent studies looking at the impact of FCPs with primary care assessed the impact across 8000 patients and found that % of onward referrals to GPs was only 1%.*
*Physiotherapist as an alternative to a GP for musculoskeletal conditions: a 2-year service evaluation of UK primary care data: Fiona Downie, Catherine McRitchie, Wendy Monteith and Helen Turner. British Journal of General Practice 2019; 69 (682): e314-e320.
Primary Care Physio
We are the leading provider of primary care FCP services in the UK and currently support over 175 PCNs.
The key focus for our service is working with PCNs and GP practices is to support practices manage MSK workload and minimise GP workload.
View our Patient Satisfaction Analysis