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General Practice Assistant (GPA)

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Role Description

General Practice Assistants (GPAs), sometimes also known as Medical Assistants, form part of a multi-disciplinary team within primary care, and provide a support role, carrying out administrative tasks, combined in some areas with basic clinical duties, helping to free up GPs time and contribute to the smooth running of appointments, improving patients experience in the surgery.

Following a successful pilot of the GPA role in the Northwest, NHS England established a national programme in 2019 to support the spread and adoption of the role across the country.

What can a General Practice Assistant offer to patients in a Primary Care setting?

  • Improving patient access and releasing highly qualified staff to concentrate on treating and managing patients with more complex conditions.
  • Improving patient flow within surgery hours, increasing the time efficiency of appointments, and reduction of waiting times; supporting patient experience by ‘translating’ or reiterating information from the GP.
  • Freeing up GPs time to spend with patients by managing GP correspondence.

Training Requirements

NHS England are funding a programme to support the development of General Practice Assistants (GPAs) in Primary Care.

GPA Accredited Training programme

The ‘GPA Skills certificate’ is an accredited training programme based on a competency framework. The framework covers 5 domains (2 clinical and 3 non-clinical):

  • Care (clinical)
  • Clinical (clinical)
  • Communications (non-clinical)
  • Administration (non-clinical)
  • Managing health records (non-clinical)
  • The training programme is self-directed, work-based learning and will require the learner to complete a portfolio of evidence which demonstrates the required knowledge, skills and behaviours and will promote critical thinking and reflection.
  • The learner will work through each domain and upload evidence onto an on-line learning platform.
  • Every GP practice will therefore need to assign a GP mentor who has overall responsibility for signing off the whole learning programme. They will be required to support the learner, alongside other colleagues who must be fully endorsed by the GP practice.
  • Each learner has 1 day protected learning time (½ day self-learning, ½ day mentor supervision)
  • The timeframe to complete the training programme is 6-9 months.
  • Once completed, the portfolio will be verified by a regional, nominated GP mentor prior to sending onto the training provider for final verification.
  • Finally, when the learner has been verified and passed by the university, they will receive 10 credits at Level 4

Regulatory Body

Not applicable

Supervision Requirements

  • Day to day with a GP

What can the Training Hub offer you?

  • Access to online courses and workshops on various topics
  • Tools and resources for improving communication and professional skills. 
  • Best practices and guidelines. 
  • Networking opportunities with other GPAs and healthcare professionals. 
  • Continued education and professional development opportunities. 
  • Access to the latest research and information on podiatry. 

Useful Resources

General Practice Assistant

GPA Accredited Programme

NHSE - GPAs

Buckinghamshire New University contact details and Expression of Interest Form

Please click here to access Expression of Interest Form . Once you download and fill it in, please send it to this email address , copying your Practice Manager and GP Mentor. Next Cohorts will take place in September 2024 and February 2025.

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