The legacy of the Ten Point Plan for general practice nurses

The NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE/I) General Practice Nurse (GPN) Ten Point Plan (2017) comes to the end of its four-year implementation period in April 2021.

The initiative was ambitious, and the outcomes have been extensive, including raising the profile of all nurses working in general practice and providing opportunities for professional growth and career development for many. Some of the success stories have included national approaches to improving the experience and education of nurses in general practice. For example, the development of an induction template for all nurses new to general practice has provided the opportunity of raising the expectations of employers (NHS England, 2019).

Standards for education programmes for nurses new to general practice, developed in partnership with GPNs and educators have also been published, providing consistency for all GPNs who are undertaking what are commonly called ‘GPN Foundation programmes’ (QNI, 2020). These standards are now used by all the universities in England that offer a programme and soon the Health Education England ‘GPN Career and Core Capabilities Framework’ will be published, which covers all registered nurses, nursing associates and healthcare support workers employed in general practice.