Facilitator Handbook 2005 - PRIMIS

PRIMIS Facilitator Handbook
What Is Primary Care?
Structure of General Practice
The organisation of general practice is dissected in detail, with the emphasis on the new
working arrangements since the arrival of the new GMS contract in April 2004. The services
offered by general practice now under nGMS are outlined along with the funding available. A
background to the workings of the quality and outcomes framework (QOF) and the differences
between GMS and PMS (Personal Medical Services) practices are detailed.
Primary Health Care Team (PHCT)
A comprehensive insight is provided into the roles operating within the PHCT, from different
types of GPs, including GPs with Special Interests (GPwSI) to other clinical roles such as the
Practice Nurse and the Health Care Assistant. The managerial and clinical roles within a
practice are also discussed, with numerous web links to professional bodies representing each
profession.
Computerisation and General Practice
The history of the background and use of computers in general practice since 1970 is traced.
Important landmarks such as the background of Requirements for Accreditation (RFA), the
NHS Plan, the 1990 GP Contract and the Wanless Report are included. More recently, NHS
Connecting for Health and its stated aims are documented.
Abbreviations used in Primary Care
A simple listing is collected together in one place of a number of organisations operating in the
NHS and their acronyms. Where available, a web link to each organisation’s home web page
is made available for further reading.
Learning Objectives
The training will provide information facilitators with:
• understanding of what primary care is
• awareness of the relationships between primary care and other NHS agencies
• understanding of the relationships between the different organisations in primary
care
• understanding of the structure of, and relationships within, general practice
• awareness of events that have brought primary care to its present position
• understanding of internal and external forces that can have an impact on data
quality in primary care
• understanding of how PRIMIS can support primary care in improving data quality
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