Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme.

The Department of Health and Social Care has funded, via the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) a project to look at the impact of non-GP staff in practices on patient care.

Through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, Primary Care Networks (PCNs) and practices have recruited over 37,000 additional staff including Pharmacists, Physiotherapists, and social prescribing link workers. These roles are in place to assist doctors in general practice in reducing their workload, assisting patients directly with their needs, allowing doctors to focus on more complex patients and other priorities, including continuity of care.

From October, PCNs have also been able to recruit newly qualified GPs through the scheme with an additional £82m of funding. Roles employed through the scheme increase capacity and improve access to appointments.