Supporting the sustainable growth of staff in
primary care and general practice
To meet the ever growing and complex needs of local communities, the Primary Care and General Practice workforce must continue to evolve.
New ways of working and additional roles will help ensure the workforce is fit for the future.
The role of nursing in Primary Care
General Practice Nurses are the second largest clinical workforce in General Practice and are vital in providing high quality care.
NHS Health Education England released its Primary Care and General Practice Nursing Career and Core Capabilities Framework.
The framework sets out six key roles within Primary Care nursing and emphasises the capabilities required to work safely and effectively at each of those levels. The framework also highlights a potential route to progress between these roles as part of a standard career pathway.
What does this mean for you?
If you’re involved in nursing within Primary Care then you can use this Framework to help you progress your career, skills and knowledge.
You can use it to reference your current level of practice, and to clearly understand the differences between your current role and other roles or levels of core capabilities.
How we can help?
We’ve mapped our courses alongside the framework to ensure we’re providing the most relevant education and training at each stage of the career pathway.
You can use our career hub to pick the courses most relevant to you or to help develop your team as a whole.
Looking to further develop the core capabilities for your current role?
Check the core capabilities required for your current role and which of our courses can support you to further develop and evidence that capability.
Looking to progress to your next role?
Check the core capabilities of the role you’re working towards and which of our courses can support you to reach that level.
Progress your career
“I am delighted to see how the ‘Primary Care and General Practice Nursing Career and Core Capability Framework’ is being put into action by Education for Health. Mapping their educational offer against the framework is exactly what is needed, so that nurses and healthcare support workers can see how to progress their education and training to advance their career. It is also helpful for employers, so they can undertake workforce planning against their population health needs.“
Paul Vaughan, Deputy Director – Primary Care Nursing
1 Support Workers Level practice
Roles include: Support Workers, Healthcare Assistants and Healthcare Support Workers
Take a look at the chart below to view which courses align with which core capability from the Primary Care and General Nursing Career Framework.
Click the TICKS in the table to view a course
| TIER 1 Support Level Practice | Essentials: Diabetes Asthma COPD Cardiovascular | Refreshers: Diabetes Asthma COPD Cardiovascular | Certificate level: Developing Professional Practice and Personal Leadership Skills |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability 1. Communication and consultation skills |  | | |
| Capability 2. Practising holistically to personalise care and promote public and person health | | | |
| Capability 3. Working with colleagues and in teams | | | |
| Capability 4. Maintaining an ethical approach and fitness to practice | | | |
| Capability 5. Information gathering and interpretation | | | |
| Capability 6. Clinical examination and procedural skills |
Next steps… If you’re keen to progress your career further, you could consider working towards the role of Nursing Associate. By focusing on completing a Certificate Level (Level 4) course you can further develop your skills and knowledge and start to move along your career pathway.
Capabilities:
Those working in these roles are required to meet some of the Tier 1 capabilities of the Primary Care and General Nursing Career Framework.
The Tier 1 capabilities act as the foundations for practice and require a general understanding of Primary Care Nursing.
The capabilities required for roles at this level include:
- Communication and consultation skills
- Practising holistically to personalise care and promote public and person health
- Working with colleagues and in teams
- Maintaining an ethical approach and fitness to practice
- Information gathering and interpretation
- Clinical examination and procedural skills
Our relevant courses:
Our courses that align with the core capabilities of your role include our series of Essentials and Refresher courses. These are focused on specific long term conditions such as asthma or diabetes. These short courses are also taught online by a clinical expert and are highly interactive. Other relevant courses include our Smoking Cessation workshop and our Hypertension workshop.
2 Nursing Associate
Roles include: General Practice Nurse, Practice Nurse, Registered Nurse – Adult, Registered Mental Health Nurse, Registered Nurse – Children and Registered Nurse – Learning Disabilities
Take a look at the chart below to view which courses align with which core capability from the Primary Care and General Nursing Career Framework.
Click the TICKS in the table to view a course
Next steps… If you’re looking to progress your career and work your way along the career framework, then your next steps could include Diploma level study. This will help you develop your skills and knowledge further and help you progress to a role such as a Registered Nurse.
Capabilities:
Those working in these roles are required to meet both the Tier 1 and Tier 2 capabilities of the Primary Care and General Nursing Career Framework. The Tier 2 capabilities enable the provision of care more independently and require and a degree of critical analysis. Capabilities at tier 2 enable nursing care for people across the whole lifespan who could have complex and concurrent mental, physical, social, cognitive, and behavioural care needs, including for people at the end of their life. Tier 2 capabilities enable practice in the context of continual change, challenging environments, different models of care delivery, innovation and rapidly evolving technologies using critical analysis and underpinning knowledge to manage complex interventions.
The capabilities include:
- Communication and consultation skills
- Practising holistically to personalise care and promote public and person health
- Working with colleagues and in teams
- Maintaining an ethical approach and fitness to practice
- Information gathering and interpretation
- Clinical examination and procedural skills
- Making a diagnosis
- Clinical management
- Managing medical and clinical complexity
- Independent prescribing and pharmacotherapy
- Leadership, management, and organisation
- Education and development
- Research and evidence based practice
Our courses:
Our courses that align with the core capabilities of your role include our diploma and undergraduate degree level short courses. These courses can be studied part-time and entirely online with the support of clinical experts and tutors and lots of opportunities for interactive sessions.
Also relevant when developing your core capabilities are our Spirometry courses, which can be taken with or without access to the ARTP assessment (and therefore access to the national register), and our series of Essentials and Refresher courses, which focus on different long term conditions.
3 Registered Nurse
Roles include: General Practice Nurse, Practice Nurse, Registered Nurse – Adult, Registered Mental Health Nurse, Registered Nurse – Children and Registered Nurse – Learning Disabilities
Take a look at the chart below to view which courses align with which core capability from the Primary Care and General Nursing Career Framework.
Click the TICKS in the table to view a course
Next steps… If you’re looking to progress your career and work your way along the career framework, then your next steps could include Diploma level study. This will help you develop your skills and knowledge further and help you progress to a role such as a Registered Nurse.
Capabilities:
Those working in these roles are required to meet both the Tier 1 and Tier 2 capabilities of the Primary Care and General Nursing Career Framework. The Tier 2 capabilities enable the provision of care more independently and require and a degree of critical analysis. Capabilities at tier 2 enable nursing care for people across the whole lifespan who could have complex and concurrent mental, physical, social, cognitive, and behavioural care needs, including for people at the end of their life. Tier 2 capabilities enable practice in the context of continual change, challenging environments, different models of care delivery, innovation and rapidly evolving technologies using critical analysis and underpinning knowledge to manage complex interventions.
The capabilities include:
- Communication and consultation skills
- Practising holistically to personalise care and promote public and person health
- Working with colleagues and in teams
- Maintaining an ethical approach and fitness to practice
- Information gathering and interpretation
- Clinical examination and procedural skills
- Making a diagnosis
- Clinical management
- Managing medical and clinical complexity
- Independent prescribing and pharmacotherapy
- Leadership, management, and organisation
- Education and development
- Research and evidence based practice
Our courses:
Our courses that align with the core capabilities of your role include our diploma and undergraduate degree level short courses. These courses can be studied part-time and entirely online with the support of clinical experts and tutors and lots of opportunities for interactive sessions.
Also relevant when developing your core capabilities are our Spirometry courses, which can be taken with or without access to the ARTP assessment (and therefore access to the national register), and our series of Essentials and Refresher courses, which focus on different long term conditions.
4 Registered Nurse (Enhanced)
Roles include: Senior Practice Nurse, Nurse Practitioner, Specialist Nurse and Nurse Manager
Take a look at the chart below to view which courses align with which core capability from the Primary Care and General Nursing Career Framework.
Click the TICKS in the table to view a course
Next steps… Looking to progress to the role of Registered Nurse (Advanced)? Then focus on completing a full MSc. This will help you develop the further skills, capabilities and knowledge required to progress your career to the next level.
Capabilities:
Those working in these roles are required to meet Those working in these roles are required to meet both the Tier 1 and Tier 2 capabilities of the Primary Care and General Nursing Career Framework.
The Tier 2 capabilities enable the provision of care more independently and require and a degree of critical analysis. Capabilities at tier 2 enable nursing care for people across the whole lifespan who could have complex and concurrent mental, physical, social, cognitive, and behavioural care needs, including for people at the end of their life.
Tier 2 capabilities enable practice in the context of continual change, challenging environments, different models of care delivery, innovation and rapidly evolving technologies using critical analysis and underpinning knowledge to manage complex interventions.
The capabilities include:
- Communication and consultation skills
- Practising holistically to personalise care and promote public and person health
- Working with colleagues and in teams
- Maintaining an ethical approach and fitness to practice
- Information gathering and interpretation
- Clinical examination and procedural skills
- Making a diagnosis
- Clinical management
- Managing medical and clinical complexity
- Independent prescribing and pharmacotherapy
- Leadership, management, and organisation
- Education and development
- Research and evidence based practice
Our courses:
Our courses that align with the core capabilities of your role include our undergraduate degree level short courses and some of our postgraduate level modules. These courses can be studied flexibly part-time and entirely online with the support of clinical experts and tutors. If you’re looking to progress your diabetes or heart failure knowledge specifically, then the following modules could be of interest:
- Diabetes Improving Glycaemic Control
- Heart Failure Beyond the Basics
- Diabetes Reducing Cardiovascular Risk
Also relevant when developing your core capabilities are our Spirometry courses, which can be taken with or without access to the ARTP assessment (and therefore access to the national register), and our series of Essentials and Refresher courses, which focus on different long term conditions and are ideal if you are looking to refresh your knowledge of the basics for a specific condition.
5 Registered Nurse (Advanced)
Roles include: Advanced Nurse and ACP (Primary Care Nurse)
Take a look at the 3 charts below to view which courses align with which core capability from the Primary Care and General Nursing Career Framework.
Click the TICKS in the table to view a course
Next steps… Progress your career to the next level by completing a full MSc. This will help you on your way towards the role of Registered Nurse (Consultant).
Table 1 – Level 7 Postgraduate Courses Available
Table 2 – Level 7 Postgraduate Courses Available
Capabilities:
Those working in these roles are required to meet the capabilities for Tier 1, 2 and 3 capabilities of the Primary Care and General Nursing Career Framework. These capabilities require an ability to provide care autonomously and independently, an ability to lead practice, operating at the cutting edge of innovation.
The capabilities at this tier enable staff to manage clinical care at the highest level independently, from beginning to end, for example an individual presents through to the end of the episode, which may include admission, referral or discharge or care at home.
Capabilities at tier 3 enable the generation of new knowledge about best treatment and care, through actively seeking and implementing best evidence to improve health and care outcomes and experiences for patients and staff.
The capabilities include:
- Communication and consultation skills
- Practising holistically to personalise care and promote public and person health
- Working with colleagues and in teams
- Maintaining an ethical approach and fitness to practice
- Information gathering and interpretation
- Clinical examination and procedural skills
- Making a diagnosis
- Clinical management
- Managing medical and clinical complexity
- Independent prescribing and pharmacotherapy
- Leadership, management, and organisation
- Education and development
- Research and evidence based practice
Our courses:
Our courses that align with the core capabilities of your role include a range of our postgraduate level modules. These courses can be studied flexibly part-time and entirely online with the support of clinical experts and tutors.
Also relevant when developing your core capabilities are our Spirometry courses, which can be taken with or without access to the ARTP assessment (and therefore access to the national register), and our series of Essentials and Refresher courses, which focus on different long term conditions and are ideal if you are looking to refresh your knowledge of the basics for a specific condition.