General Practice Assistants (GPAs)

What are General Practice Assistants (GPAs)?

As part of the wider team in general practice, General Practice Assistants provide a support role, carrying out administrative tasks, combined in some areas with basic clinical duties.

They can help to free up GPs time and contribute to the smooth running of appointments, improving patients experience in the surgery.

The GP Assistant role (sometimes known as Medical Assistants) was initially developed in the United States, to safely deliver a combination of routine administrative tasks and some basic clinical duties in the general practice setting. The focus being on supporting General Practitioners in their day-to-day management of patients, specifically aimed at reducing the administrative burden, making best use of consultation time and supporting those particularly vulnerable to isolation who are regular attenders at the practice.

NHS England General Practice Assistants 

What can General Practice Assistants do in primary care?

  • Help improve patient access and releasing highly qualified staff to concentrate on treating and managing patients with more complex conditions
  • Help improve 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
  • Have a positive impact on retention and job satisfaction
  • Reduce time spent by GPs in managing correspondence

General Practice Assistant Resources

Training pathways

There are two options for training, either an accredited route or on-the-job training following the WT&E competency framework.

Accredited training:

  • The formal (accredited) training requires the individual to be released for 4hrs per week for personal study time and 4hrs per week for 1:1 training. The 1:1 training could be on courses, observing all clinical and non-clinical members of the team, and being observed completing patient interactions. The remainder of the working week can be flexible to suit the needs of the practice and individual. So the 4hrs of 1:1 training does not need to all be with a GP!
  • The GPA needs to complete an e-portfolio covering the training domains, supported by a named GP mentor (they can also have a practice manager mentor who could support the non-clinical elements instead of the GP)
  • On completion of training a £1700 training grant (correct at the time of writing in 2022) is payable by WT&E to the employing practice
  • If your PCN or GP practice wishes to register their interest in accreditation, please complete a short Microsoft Forms questionnaire. Individuals can express their interest here.

Non-accredited training:

  • Staff can be trained in practice, with on-the-job training and development led by GPs, in line with the role outline
  • The WT&E competency framework can be found by clicking the button below

WT&E competency framework for GP assistants

Further information can be found at e-learning for health General Practice Assistant – elearning for healthcare (e-lfh.org.uk).

Pearson BTEC Level 4 Award in General Practice Assistant – Expressions of interest.

Following a national tender process Sysco have been awarded the contract from NHS England to manage the GPA Assistant Programme in the Southwest, supported by Devon Training Hub. Accredited by Pearsons, the programme will give learners a Level 4 GPA qualification at a Foundation degree level amounting to 10 CPD credits.

For further information Including the Purpose of the qualification, what is involved in completing the Programme and how you can apply, please click here.

Further GPA Resources

Example induction checklist template for multi-disciplinary team staff