The re-emergence of the peripatetic educator in general practice

Peripatetic nursing roles have evolved due to need of flexibility to manage a workforce which aligns with any form or need for organisational change that involves a people strategy. Background Recently, the re-emergence of the peripatetic educator role in primary care has appeared through funding from NHS England to address the gap of practice assessors, particularly in primary care in accordance with The Ten Point Plan for General Nurse Practitioners (2021) has been applied at scale across the Humber and Yorkshire regions. Long standing evidence has justified that student nurses and staff can develop their knowledge and skills utilising the supervisory mechanisms to enable quality supervision and assessment within clinical environments ( Knight et al 2021 ). Methods A reflection on action process was utilised from peripatetic educators' reflections to investigate the quality and value of introducing a peripatetic educator to support and engage with student nurses and their supervisors and assessors in primary care networks (PCNs). Outcomes and Effectiveness The introduction of the peripatetic educator in general practice has had a positive impact in addressing general practice placements, specifically to enhance skill acquisition through nurse led clinics addressing key Quality and Outcomes Frameworks (QOF's); broaden placement capacity and complete proficiency assessments in a timely and successful way, by applying the long arm supervision process ( Karban 1999 ). Implications and Summary Peripatetic educators can cement the required consistency and proficiency in clinical placement learning and assessments by bridging gaps between primary care networks and universities; maximise the student tariff and provide high quality clinical placements within general practice.