Associate Psychological Practitioners (APPs) in primary care: modelling the impact

With regard to generating additional capacity, having 1 APP in each of the 41 PCNs in Lancashire and South Cumbria could provide 53 000 brief intervention appointments of 45 min each, thereby diverting these appointments away from the GP, and up to 48 people could benefit from attending Group and Well-being sessions over a year with 1 APP working with another Primary Care colleague, that is, 384 group intervention sessions delivered. In relation to GP capacity, 1 APP (if placed across a PCN, or within multiple practices) could free up at least 1,665 GP appointments within one year, which could lead to potential cost savings. These findings can be used to underpin decision-making with respect to training future cohorts of APPs and contribute to wider workforce planning in primary care.