Exclusive More recruitment of general practice nurses (GPNs) and improving pay for all healthcare staff should be among the top priorities of the next government, a survey of primary and community care nursing staff has revealed.
Almost 200 nursing staff – made up of GPNs, nursing associates and community nurses – have ranked what they believe should be the priorities for the incoming government ahead of next week’s general election.
The results come as part of an exclusive State of Primary Care survey – led by our publisher Cogora and sister titles Pulse PCN and Healthcare Leader – in which staff were asked to order priorities for the health service on a 1-5 scale from ‘low’ to ‘high’.
Almost three-quarters (71%) of nursing staff who responded said ‘better pay’ for all NHS staff was of the highest priority.
This comes amid ongoing concerns that many GPNs in England have not received the 6% pay rise they were promised and that almost half of GPNs had not received an uplift at all last year.
Meanwhile two-thirds (66%) of nursing staff said more recruitment of GPNs and improving patient access to primary care was of high importance.
Also ranked highly was the need to improve ambulance response times (65%); reduce A&E waiting times (61%) and increased recruitment of GPs (60%).
Around half also cited the need to improve ‘movement of patients between primary and secondary care (50%) and to reduce the elective care backlog (51%).
The top priorities for the new government, according to primary and community care nursing staff
Our survey asked, on a scale of 1-5, with one being low priority and five being high priority, what do you think the priority should be for the next government in terms of the NHS?
Respondents that marked these as highest priority (5):
71% Better pay for all NHS staff
66% More recruitment of GPNs
66% Improving patient access to primary care
65% Improving ambulance response times
61% Reducing A&E waiting times
60% More recruitment of GPs
59% More efficient discharge of patients from hospital
51% Reducing elective care backlog
50% Improving movement of patients between primary and secondary care
42% Environmental sustainability of the NHS
36% More support for community pharmacy
24% Driving forward integrated neighbourhood teams
22% Scrapping PCNs
15% AI-driven care
When asked for their lowest priorities for the next government, 25% cited ‘AI-driven care’ and 11% said ‘scrapping’ primary care networks (PCNs).
The lowest priorities for the new government, according to primary and community care nursing staff
Our survey asked, on a scale of 1-5, with one being low priority and five being high priority, what do you think the priority should be for the next government in terms of the NHS?
Respondents that marked these as lowest priority (1):
25% AI-driven care
11% Scrapping PCNs
9% Driving forward integrated neighbourhood teams
7% Environmental sustainability of the NHS
6% Better pay for all NHS staff
5.5% More support for community pharmacy
5% Improving access to primary care
5% More recruitment of GPs
4% More recruitment of GPNs
4% Reducing elective care backlog
3% Improving movement of patients between primary and secondary care
3% Improving ambulance response times
3% Reducing A&E waiting times
2% More efficient discharge of patients from hospital
The survey, run in conjunction with our sister titles Healthcare Leader and Pulse PCN, was open from 29 April to 20 May 2024 included responses from 122 GPNs, 28 ARRS nursing staff and 29 community nurses.
The results come as part of The State of Primary Care: A PCN Evaluation – which explores the impact of PCNs on nurses, GPs, pharmacists and managers.
