New team will help support and develop primary care workforce

A new team to help develop and support staff working in primary care has launched in Swansea Bay.

The Primary and Community Care Academy can provide and direct primary care staff to a variety of education and training opportunities to enable them to enhance their skills.

Its aim is to help develop the workforce within primary care, including GPs, pharmacists, optometrists, dentists, nurses, allied health professionals (AHPs) and more.

It is hoped that in doing so, staff will be supported to provide a wider range of services and interventions in the community.

Pictured: Jessica Beer, primary and community care education and training development officer at the Academy, Sharon Miller, Associate Service Group Director for primary and community services, and Rhian Jones, Academy manager.

The Academy is one of seven set up in health boards across Wales, working with Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW).

As its development continues, the vision is for it to become a centre of excellence for education and training for staff.

It will also focus on attracting, developing and supporting primary care staff by embedding new multidisciplinary roles and encouraging workforce planning.

Sharon Miller, Associate Service Group Director for primary and community services, has led the establishment of the Academy in Swansea Bay.

She said: “We are delighted to have established this new academy in the health board in partnership with HEIW.

“It is estimated primary care deals with 90 per cent of patient contacts within the NHS and it is important that the workforce is supported.

“We are building strong, enduring connections with key stakeholders and have started to deliver training and education that we hope will prove invaluable to our colleagues.

“We have provided training for over 200 colleagues in the first year and are on track to double this in the current year.

“We have also added to the Academy team with a clinical lead role.”

Rhian Jones, Primary and Community Care Academy Manager for the health board, said: “The Academy aims to increase opportunities for education and training for the primary and community care workforce.

“Our focus is to meet the needs of staff in Swansea Bay and it is hoped it will help with staff retention, as well as upskilling.”

Practices and teams can contact the Academy individually to discuss education and training opportunities.

They can also seek guidance on developing and expanding their workforce by introducing new roles or upskilling members of their team.

“We also offer support to help develop a multidisciplinary workforce,” Rhian added.

“If a practice approached us and said they wanted to introduce a new role, such as a physiotherapist for example, we could support them and identify what training they needed.”

The Academy will work with HEIW to create toolkits aimed at helping primary care employers with the information they need when it comes to managing teams.

The resources will help to facilitate the development of multi-professional teams.

A number of training sessions have already taken place, with GPs, AHPs and nurses among the staff members who have taken part.

Non-clinical members of staff working in GP practices, dental practices, community pharmacies and optometrists have also benefited from sessions.

Jessica Beer, Primary and Community Care Education and Training Development Officer at the Academy, said: “We have utilised primary, community and therapies service group and HEIW funding to support and deliver the education and training to staff.

“The topics covered have included obesity and weight management, learning difficulties, women’s health and GP updates.”

One staff member who recently completed training thanks to the Academy is Dr Colette McNally, a GP partner at Castle Surgery in Neath and the Director of Postgraduate GP Education at HEIW.

“The training offered to me as a local GP by the Primary Care Academy was excellent,” she said.

“I had free access to a full-day GP hot topics course and women’s health.

“The quality was excellent and being online it was available to engage with in small episodes over six months.”

The Academy has also delivered two rounds of the General Practice Nurse Foundation, which supports nurses who are new to primary care.

Fully funded places on university modules such as core skills for primary care and minor illness courses have also been secured.

Rhian said: “Looking ahead, we are eager to continue developing and engaging with staff and stakeholders to help meet the evolving needs of the community.”

For more information on training and education opportunities available, please contact sbu.pccacademy@wales.nhs.uk