First Contact Practitioners (FCP) in Primary Care

As part of the Long-Term Plan, Primary Care Networks (PCNs) and General Practices are encouraged to build a team with diverse skills and competencies to support increased access for patients, alleviate pressures on existing staff, and improve the quality of care and services. The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) provides PCNs with funding for some of these additional roles. Staff can be reimbursed in line with their skills and capabilities, and the role that they are undertaking, up to the maximum level of reimbursement set out in the Network Contract DES. To be eligible for reimbursement staff must be able to deliver the responsibilities of the role set out in the DES. 

Employers need to ensure that staff are operating within the limits of their capability and scope of practice, and that they are provided with appropriate supervision to enable them to do so. It is not a requirement for AHPs to be FCPs or Advanced Practitioners (APs) to work in primary care. 

To support FCPs, a national Primary Care educational pathway has been created for clinicians moving into FCP roles which may lead to AP status. 

This will ultimately: 

• Provide a pipeline of professionals at different levels of practice. 
• Help recruitment and retention in primary care. 
• Create sustainability for multi-professional FCP roles. 
• Demonstrate the capability of the clinician assuring both patient and clinician safety. 

The Roadmap to FCP and AP is a supportive document that provides this clear educational pathway from undergraduate to advanced practice for clinicians wishing to progress their career in primary care.