Primary care education for the new NHS: a discussion paper

The White Paper, The New NHS: Modern, Dependable, once again heralds change and new expectations of primary care in the UK.

This discussion paper aims to encourage reflection on the implications for primary care teams of current governmental strategy, and to address the pivotal role which education can play in equipping practitioners for their roles.

The paper examines the opportunities and threats for primary care in the new NHS developments, the strengths and weaknesses of the role that education currently plays in primary care, and how recent innovations might be used to give a more holistic approach to the needs of practitioners. The challenges for clinical governance of lay engagement and ethical decision making are seen as two crucial outcomes for an educational strategy which must be practice-led, and must interface individual practitioner education with the needs of the team and the community as a whole. I draw on a range of policy documents and educational literature to alert the reader to the different choices which can be made when thinking about appropriate educational models and methods; and offer a detailed structure for a practical educational strategy that may effectively unite theory and practice. The key elements are a three-tier link between practices, primary care groups, and district-level resources for all educational and training activity, and the aim of continuing multiprofessional development which will underpin the new NHS.