Last week saw the first meeting of the reinvigorated South Yorkshire & Bassetlaw Primary Care Workforce group.

The group supported by HEE has set itself the task of driving the development of the primary care workforce in our area in order to ensure it is fit to deliver high quality, modern healthcare across the whole of the region.

With such an important agenda it was extremely positive to see the first meeting included representatives from frontline GPs, Health Education England, the LMC, and CCG senior staff. The welcome addition of pharmacy colleagues to the group demonstrates the commitment to explore emerging models for the delivery of primary care.

Previously the group had recognised that workforce was potentially an overwhelming agenda. As a result a new chair has been appointed for the group, Dr Ben Jackson (a Doncaster GPand Senior Clinical Teacher at the University of Sheffield) and Health Education England Yorkshire and Humber have provided funding for a full time project lead, Elen Williams, to support the group in delivering results for Primary Care in our area.

The first meeting generated considerable discussion but it was clear there wasa real commitment to achieving outcomes for the long term but also in developing some quick-wins for general practice in SYB as it was recognised the situation was critical.

One of the key elements in ensuring the group is successful in delivering its stated objectives will be maintaining engagement with frontline staff.It is essential that we keep you informed and involved in what the group is doing whilst gaining your feedback and contributions to delivering the outcomes that work for practices.

Quick wins

These are some of the quick wins identified by the group:

  • Collate and circulatepotential solutions in an easy to read format
  • Share and celebrate success of what is already happening in the region
  • Build on the success of our training hubs to enhance training opportunities for all
  • Understand and share the data we have on our existing workforce
  • Provide ‘workforce workshops’ to allow GPs at the frontline some ‘time to think’ about how they might explore possible solutions. The first workshop is provisionally scheduled for April so further details will follow.

The group plans to meet quarterly but will be actively engaged between meetings and our progress will be reported through our blog. The LMC are fully supportive of the aims of the group and we thank them for agreeing to support engagement with members through their communication networks.

SYBWG

To make the group accessible we have set up a web page where you can find out what the group is doing and comment on workforce issues through our blog:-

By entering your email in the box on the right hand side of the website you will receive automatic updates.