A PCWTH (Primary Care Workforce & Training Hub) is a practice or group of practices accredited to provide undergraduate and post-graduate multi-professional training placements.

PCWTHs have an integrated learning ethos, placing education, training and development as a core part of everyday work. They aim to encourage integrated learning both inter-professionally and between learners at different stages of their learning journey, training and developing the future workforce.

At Trust Primary Care, we work with HEEYH (Health Education England working across Yorkshire & Humber) as the WY PCWTH across all West Yorkshire practices. We work to address workforce issues and encourage recruitment, development and mentoring in our area, rather than ‘poaching’.

What does the West Yorkshire PCWTH offer?

We provide practice training placements for learners to develop the competencies needed to work effectively in primary and community care settings, enabling integrated learning opportunities.

Our placements include:

“A GP nurse placement really opened my eyes to a lifelong career. I couldn’t wait to graduate and now love my job as a practice nurse.” Safia, Nurse at Parklands.

Where they have a suitable mentor, practices in the Hub area can become Spoke Practices. (Please note: experienced staff can attend a SLiP course to become a mentor, and mentors become sign-off mentors after assuming responsibility for two placements.)

Spoke practices are allocated undergraduate nurses for 8-12 week placements and receive £120 per week for the duration of the placement, in return for mentoring and introducing Primary Care nursing as a career option.

Trust Primary Care’s PCWTH provides support in a number of ways:

• We liaise with HEIs (universities and colleges) on student numbers, capacity and allocation
• We support practices with any queries over placements
• We organise evaluations of placements
• We ensure IPL (inter-professional learning) on placements and feedback
• We contribute to ATP workshops (every 6 months) and quarterly steering groups to ensure sustained scheme quality

This Scheme provides support for practices that are willing to host a new NMC registered nurse, or a nurse new to primary care, as we help to develop them during their first 12 months in practice to become proficient general practice nurses (GPNs).

• Financial support is provided for education and training during the preceptorship period for newly registered (within the last 12 months) NMC nurses or nurses who are new to primary care. They will be PCWTH employees for the full 12 months, but embedded in practices from the start as an integral part of the team.
• There is a financial incentive of £4k over the one year period for practices to support the nurses as they undertake multiple practical skills courses in their first 6 months, and then a Long Term Conditions module in the second.

Trust Primary Care’s PCWTH provides support in a number of ways:

• Recruitment and employment of the nurses
• Booking of all the courses
• Provision of a Clinical Lead to act as a mentor for the full 12 months
• Establishment of peer support groups via the Clinical Lead for the full 12 months
• Development of an MoU between the Training Hub, the Nurse and the practice
• Advice to the practices and the nurses to establish a permanent role at the end of the 12 months

A national scheme run across West Yorkshire by the PCWTH, this rolling programme offers support to all GPs and GPNs new to primary care via monthly educational sessions, Mentoring, Coaching and support to work across their PCNs on a portfolio project.

Practices are paid backfill based on actual salary + on costs to support the release of their new GPs and GPNs to ensure they can get the maximum benefit from their participation in the scheme. It also supports the practice with induction and an introduction to the Fellows re life in general practice and how their careers can develop. This will help to improve retention in your practice and encourage more GPs to become partners in the future.

Trust Primary Care’s PCWTH provides support in a number of ways:

• We liaise with suitable trainers to develop the educational sessions 
• We work with the LMC around the Coaching and Mentoring elements
• We work with Fellows and CDs to identify suitable PCN portfolio opportunities

• Nurse placements give practices the option to undertake what is effectively an eight week interview for potential candidates, building relationships and providing an opportunity to identify future staff.
• They provide a great way to demonstrate that becoming a Practice Nurse is a great career option wherever they may apply.
• For the candidates, it’s good for their personal development, confidence, keeping up to date and re-validation.

• PCWTHs encourage more practices to be engaged in training the future primary and community care workforce.
• PCWTHs provide robust infrastructure for the provision and support of quality assured placements for medical and healthcare students.
• Interprofessional learning and working becomes embedded in primary care.
• More medical and non-medical accredited placements are available, resulting in a future workforce completing their training competent to work in primary and community care.

• You need a suitable supervisor (and access to a sign-off assessor if the student is on their final Year 3 placement). Experienced staff can attend a SLiP course in order to become an assessor.
• On average, an hourly meeting every week is required between the mentor and student, plus a further 10-15 minutes to go through student workbooks. In addition, initial, mid and end of placement paperwork is required from the mentor.
• 40% of the placement and induction must be supervised by the mentor; the rest of the time can be spent with the wider team. MDT and IPL are actively encouraged and should be seen as integral to your practice and the placement.

• PCWTH representatives carry out a site meeting to meet the team and check it is a placement that will benefit both parties.
• Mandatory training for the practice (Fire, Health & Safety etc) needs to be included in induction, along with clarity of working hours and expectations with clear lines of reporting.
• Spoke practices are the first port of call for schemes such as the Nurse VTS and ARRS roles placements as they are already approved as suitable.

• The West Yorkshire Primary Care Workforce & Training Hub (PCWTH) are supporting GPN Supervisors and Assessors across West Yorkshire by running a GPN Supervisor and Assessor Support Programme. Feedback from research carried out has shown that many GPNs are not confident enough to put themselves forward as Supervisors or Assessors now there is no requirement for a formal SSSA/SLIP course. They do not feel equipped after an online course alone, such as PEAP, to start the roles.

  The GPN Supervisor and Assessor Support Programme is a support framework for GPNs who have completed the online training. Supervision of nursing students represents the accumulated wisdom at each stage of your career; the decisions made, the actions taken, and challenges overcome. This Programme is here to support you as a GPN to fully integrate the NMC Standards for Student Supervision and Assessment (2018) into General Practice and to offer you support and encouragement as you start to think about supervision of nursing students.

  The Programme is run by experienced GPN Facilitators who will follow up the online training with practical examples and ideas of how to implement what GPN’s have learnt. This includes case studies, developing toolkits and practical skills for the GPN Supervisors and Assessors to use in their day to day Supervisor/Assessor roles.

  The GPN Supervisors and Assessors attending the Initial GPN Supervisor and Assessor Support Programme will also be given the opportunity to attend up to 2 more sessions within 2 years when they become more established in the role. Following an initial co-creation session with skilled GPN facilitators, the subsequent sessions will also focus on leadership and communication development including conflict management associated with students not achieving expected NMC performance standards.

Marie Stout: Chief Operating Officer, TPC Ltd

Nick Nurden: Business Partner, The Ridge Medical Practice

Robyn Knapping: Senior Project Manager, TPC Ltd

Stacey Gill: Reporting and Engagement Manager, TPC Ltd

Michele Bryden: Manager, Calderdale & Kirklees

Kirsty Farrar: Manager, College Lane, Wakefield

Tracy Wood: Project Manager, TPC Ltd

Gemma Cook: Project Manager, TPC Ltd

Laura Barker: Project Manager, TPC Ltd

Joanne Jones: Project Manager, TPC Ltd

Jodie Warden: Project Manager, TPC Ltd

Sara Thackray: Project Manager, College Lane, Wakefield

Nicole Mitchell: Senior Administrator, TPC Ltd

Chris Knapping: Senior Administrator, TPC Ltd

Amber Smith: Administrator, TPC Ltd (Bradford and Calderdale & Kirklees)

Aissatou Diallo: Administrator, TPC Ltd (Leeds and Wakefield)

Katy Stout: Administrator, TPC Ltd

Paul Hudson: GP, Leeds Student Medical Practice

Julianne Lyons: GP, Leeds Student Medical Practice

Catherine Gill: ANP, Calderdale & Kirklees

Wendy Iles: ANP, Calderdale & Kirklees

Susan Hutton: Nurse Clinical Lead 

Naomi Berry: Practice Nurse, TPC Ltd & Rooley Lane Medical Centre

Sarah Atkinson: Nurse Lead, Leeds Student Medical Practice

Louise Smith: Nurse Lead, College Lane, Wakefield

Mandy Brown: Finance Manager, Bowling Highfield Practice

Chris Brennan: Chair TPC Ltd & Business Partner, Bowling Highfield Practice

Fiona Purdie: Business Manager, Parklands Medical Practice

For more information on any scheme, either as an employer or as a potential candidate, please contact us – wy.traininghub@nhs.net

For general information on the West Yorkshire PCWTH, please see our new website - West Yorkshire - Training Hub

To have a conversation about becoming a placement practice, please contact us via email in the first instance. We will identify the best member of the team to be able to answer your query and they will get back to you asap – wy.traininghub@nhs.net

Follow us on Twitter: @TPCLtdYorkshire

For information on staff wellbeing for all primary care colleagues, please refer to the link below for the Bradford District & Craven Health and Wellbeing Hub – Health & Wellbeing Hub