RCGP launches practice nursing competencies

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has released its updated general practice nursing competencies.

The competencies, which were updated by the RCGP's General Practice Foundation, are designed to be used alongside the recently released general practice nursing and district nursing framework. They cover general practice nurses, advanced nurse practitioners and healthcare assistants.

Jenny Aston, the chair of the RCGP's practice nursing group, said: 'These standards are for general practice nurses about their employment and a commitement that doctors should train their nurses, advanced nurse practitioners and healthcare assistants.'

The competencies not only look at what each profession should be aiming for to be 'exemplary' but also what primary care organisations and GP practices can do for the nurses.

For primary care settings these include ensuring that workforce planning at a strategic level includes general practice nurses and healthcare assistants, ensure that educational contracts with higher education institutions include the learning and development needs of general practice nursing staff, ensure that service specification in contracts for primary care providers include quality indicators for general practice nursing training.

Good general practice surgeries should include a robust recruitment and selection process for the employment of nurses and healthcare assistants and ensure that there are clear lines of accountability for all nurses and healthcare assistants.