The practices were also willing to have NGNs in the future, even if this was not part of the VLCA Sustainability Initiative. For some practices, key challenges to implementation included the time that needed to be spent on training the NGN, training for the NGN that focused on secondary care services and managing practice staff expectations of the NGN role and scope. Ideas for improvements suggested by the stakeholders included: Extending the timeframe of the initiative to go beyond twelve months, suggestions ranged between two and five years. An extended timeframe was considered to be important to realising the full benefits and potential of the initiative by some practice managers and business owners. Having greater focus on the primary care and community setting in the NETP programme. Partial ongoing funding from the government for the NGN position to support sustainability, especially for smaller practices. Improving the application process through increasing the time available to put together an application and aligning the timing more closely to the nurses graduations. Increasing NGN placements across primary care in general, not just VLCA practices. Outline the level of support required for an NGN, particularly for those practices who have not had an NGN before. Clearer contracts and reporting requirements from the outset of the initiative. This report has provided a useful insight into the views and experiences of key stakeholders involved in the implementation of the NGN employment scheme through the VLCA initiative. Overall, the findings provided support for the successful implementation and initial impacts of the one-off funding for the new graduate nurse component of the VLCA Sustainability Initiative. It will be important to further validate and explore these impacts in the next phase of the evaluation.
The practices were also willing to have NGNs in the future, even if this was not part of the VLCA Sustainability Initiative. For some practices, key challenges to implementation included the time that needed to be spent on training the NGN, training for the NGN that focused on secondary care services and managing practice staff expectations of the NGN role and scope. Ideas for improvements suggested by the stakeholders included: Extending the timeframe of the initiative to go beyond twelve months, suggestions ranged between two and five years. An extended timeframe was considered to be important to realising the full benefits and potential of the initiative by some practice managers and business owners. Having greater focus on the primary care and community setting in the NETP programme. Partial ongoing funding from the government for the NGN position to support sustainability, especially for smaller practices. Improving the application process through increasing the time available to put together an application and aligning the timing more closely to the nurses graduations. Increasing NGN placements across primary care in general, not just VLCA practices. Outline the level of support required for an NGN, particularly for those practices who have not had an NGN before. Clearer contracts and reporting requirements from the outset of the initiative. This report has provided a useful insight into the views and experiences of key stakeholders involved in the implementation of the NGN employment scheme through the VLCA initiative. Overall, the findings provided support for the successful implementation and initial impacts of the one-off funding for the new graduate nurse component of the VLCA Sustainability Initiative. It will be important to further validate and explore these impacts in the next phase of the evaluation.