Piloting the Core Skills in General Practice

The North West Core Skills programme (NWCSP) is an award winning learning and development initiative being undertaken across the North West health sector to improve the efficiency and education quality of statutory and mandatory training. Following successful implementation of the programme by NHS trusts and higher education institutes (HEIs) across the North West, a new project is now focusing upon introducing Core Skills to general practices, with the aim of replicating benefits across primary care as well as within secondary care. It is recognised that since the abolition of primary care trusts (PCTs) training provision in primary care has become increasingly fragmented with a lack of guidance for individual practices. The introduction of the Core Skills programme is seen as an opportunity to provide clarity to practices on training requirements, establish an educational standard and define a consistent approach across the region.An initial pilot will be undertaken with two separate groups of practices. The first group is made up of twenty general practices based within Fylde and Wyre Clinical Commissioning Group. The second group is made up of approximately fifteen separate practices from across the North West who have previously expressed an interest in the Core Skills programme and volunteered to be part of the pilot.The initial scoping work for the pilot has been undertaken, with the pilot scheduled to run during the first quarter of 2015.