‘Be at the table or you will be on the menu’

The QNI has for the last few years lobbied for registered nurses to be included under the Department of Health and Social Care ‘Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme’ (ARRS) for general practice in England. So we have cautiously welcomed the news that registered nurses are to be included in the 2025/26 ARRS contract.

For many years, the ARRS has provided full salary funding and some on costs for additional professionals to be employed in general practice. The 17 new roles have included, for example, pharmacists and paramedics, with the GP practices able to select and recruit the most appropriate role to complement the existing team and meet the needs of the registered population.

In the first few years of the ARRS, registered nurses were not included in the scheme, and yet they were expected to support those professional colleagues coming into general practice for the first time. There was insufficient time for supporting induction, teaching and clinical supervision. All concerns that were also shared by our GP colleagues. Our concerns were evidenced when the ICNO of the QNI undertook a piece of work to look at the impact of the ARRS on nurses working in general practice: https://qni.org.uk/news-and-events/news/new-roles-in-general-practice-not-addressing-workload-issues/