We’re supporting general practice to deliver change through the national general practice improvement programme (GPIP), which was introduced as part of the delivery plan for recovering access to primary care in May 2023.

The programme will provide support for practices and primary care networks (PCNs) over 2 years (2023-2025) to make changes and improvements to how they work.

The focus will be on helping practices and PCNs have more control over their workload, maximise the use of all staff roles and local services, meet the needs of patients and provide safe, equitable care.

The programme will provide 3 levels of support, all underpinned by the principles that change should be clinically led, data-driven and evidence-based.

Why does general practice need support?

Demand and complexity in general practice are increasing, and practices are facing a widening gap between patient demand and the capacity available to meet that demand. All practices have pressures and workforce challenges, with these felt most acutely in practices working in areas of high need and deprivation, and in rural areas.

Many practices and PCNs have done amazing work to adapt to these challenges. The general practice improvement programme is about bringing together and sharing learning from these areas. The programme will provide support to make it easier for other practices and PCNs to go through change.

Digital channels have become increasingly important in recent years and the right digital tools, used effectively, can make a significant difference to how general practice works. The general practice improvement programme will support practices to use digital tools effectively to deliver positive improvements in the experience of both patients and staff.

Our focus

The general practice improvement programme will help practices move to a model of general practice that is safer, more efficient and more inclusive. It will do this by supporting improvements in 5 priority areas:

• Understanding and managing demand and capacity
• Enhancing care navigation and triage processes
• Improving the experience for patients of telephoning their practice (‘the telephony journey’)
• Improving the experience for patients of contacting their practice and managing their care online (focusing on practice websites, online consultation tools, messaging systems and appointment booking tools)
• Management of non-patient facing practice workload

Our support

The national general practice improvement programme will provide 3 levels of support.

1. Universal offer

Every practice is England can access the universal offer, which will be made up of:

• webinars covering the 5 key priority areas and advice on how to make practical changes and improvements in general practice.
• online resources on the 5 priority areas, including guidance on quick wins and best practice.
• training opportunities including in quality improvement tools, techniques and leadership.

See here for further information on the Universal offer including next webinars and events, and key resources.

2. Intermediate offer

The intermediate offer is a hands-on package of support delivered over 3 months to enable planning and delivery of improvements. There are versions of the intermediate offer for practices and for PCNs. This support will include facilitated in-person sessions, a data diagnosis and a tailored analysis of demand and capacity.

See here for further information about the intermediate offer.

3. Intensive offer

The intensive offer provides targeted, hands-on support for those practices working in the most challenging circumstances. Delivered over 6 months, practices will benefit from on-site support as well as group-based sessions to facilitate peer-to-peer learning and sharing of experience across practices.

See here for further information about the intensive offer.

For general enquires about the general practice improvement programme please contact england.pctgpip@nhs.net