Process Improvement

Practice Level Support (PLS)/GPIP

NHS England has supported General Practice improvement for many years through a dedicated programme that has evolved into what is now known as Practice Level Support (PLS), formally known as the General Practice Improvement Porgramme (GPIP). Delivered in partnership with five national delivery organisations, PLS has helped thousands of GP practices across England enhance their productivity, efficiency, and patient care.

Practice Level Support is designed to help practices operate more efficiently, improve productivity, and enhance the patient experience—particularly in relation to access to care.

The programme is led by experienced facilitators who work closely with each practice, becoming a trusted extension of the team. Their role is to drive meaningful, sustainable change tailored to the needs of the practice, placing continuous improvement at the centre of their work.

Who is it for?

The programme is tailored for general practices and primary care networks facing various challenges, including:

Increasing demand for services
Complexity of patient cases
Limited capacity
Workforce challenges
Inefficient processes
Inadequate access options
Poor continuity of care
Low patient experience scores
High volume of complaints
Staff burnout and workload management

How it works

The Practice Level Support (PLS) programme addresses the pain points by:

Providing inclusive and straightforward online and telephone access to improve access channels.
Implementing structured information gathering to gain a comprehensive understanding of patient needs.
Prioritizing and allocating resources safely and equitably for better resource allocation.
Leveraging additional expertise and resources from the multi-professional team to address patient needs more efficiently.
Improving processes and reducing duplication to increase efficiency and reduce time and cost.

Practice Learning Support PLS

Case Study: Implementing Total Triage at Health Care First

Serving 32,000 patients across multiple sites, Health Care First faced a major shift: implementing a new total triage model. They faced important decisions around team roles, patient communication, and how best to integrate new systems.

We worked with them to:

Clarify the vision and set a realistic timeline
Map out critical processes through workshops
Define job standards and rework rotas
Create clear messaging for both staff and patients

The outcome was a confident transition to a clinically led triage system, improving access for patients and reducing pressure on the team.

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We work with you to eliminate waste, reduce errors and optimise resources. Our teams enable you to improve patient care delivery and we equip you to continually innovate and improve in the future.

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It has been great to have Lee drive and support us in the move to modern general practice.

London GP

The programme has enabled us to create the momentum to make changes and improvements that would not of been possible.

London GP

The programme has helped us at looking at things in a different way …and question ourselves on why we do something the way we do.

Leicestershire Practice Manager

We have looked at many processes that we do and how by utilising technology/staff that we already have available what time can be saved for clinicians, staff and patients if we implement change.

Leicestershire Practice Manager

I didnt even notice that I had stopped moaning about the work until one of the administration team pointed it out to me. The work we have done on reducing the outstanding Medical Reviews has really had an impact on my day.

Lincolnshire Administrator

As my workload pressure has reduced, I think this programme has helped me to become more confident in managing the team and dealing with the ongoing curveballs.

Lincolnshire Administrator

It really feels like everything has been simplified and will be much easier for us to complete workflow now.

Wells Administrator

This work has been like undoing a roadblock which has been stopping us from getting things done.

Gloucestershire Reception Manager

It’s helped to provide a focus and clear direction through a facilitator, who uses extensive knowledge of NHS system changes to support the process.

Gloucestershire Practice Manager

As a practice we have always been very reactive, constantly firefighting, this programme has clearly highlighted to me the benefit of making the time to plan for the future to work smarter not harder.

Gloucestershire Office Manager

These changes will save a huge amount of time with staff planning & recruitment, but most of all safety.

Gloucestershire Office Manager

Superb support, guidance and insight from the Xytal facilitator. Looking forward to the next session.

Cambridgeshire

Really good communication and clear information. explained in great detail.

London

Finding the sessions really useful to focus on things we can try and develop often they are thoughts we have had but not found the time to focus on them this is allowing us to develop a plan to tackle some of our issues.

Dewsbury

A great facilitator and very knowledgeable with a great understanding of primary care pressures.

Bristol

Really helpful session – we made proper progress and have been able to move forward with a tangible plan.

Devon

Very positive conversations during this session which led to some immediate actions being set and executed well.

Devon

Really intense but productive session. We collectively feel the practice will definitely reap the benefits of being part of the programme.

Liverpool

The session was very useful and interesting; to have an independent body, with a fresh pair of eyes, looking at the way things are done is refreshing and has highlighted issues the Practice can reflect on.

Camberley

It has been great to have Lee drive and support us in the move to modern general practice.

London GP

The programme has enabled us to create the momentum to make changes and improvements that would not of been possible.

London GP

The programme has helped us at looking at things in a different way …and question ourselves on why we do something the way we do.

Leicestershire Practice Manager

We have looked at many processes that we do and how by utilising technology/staff that we already have available what time can be saved for clinicians, staff and patients if we implement change.

Leicestershire Practice Manager

I didnt even notice that I had stopped moaning about the work until one of the administration team pointed it out to me. The work we have done on reducing the outstanding Medical Reviews has really had an impact on my day.

Lincolnshire Administrator

As my workload pressure has reduced, I think this programme has helped me to become more confident in managing the team and dealing with the ongoing curveballs.

Lincolnshire Administrator

It really feels like everything has been simplified and will be much easier for us to complete workflow now.

Wells Administrator

This work has been like undoing a roadblock which has been stopping us from getting things done.

Gloucestershire Reception Manager

It’s helped to provide a focus and clear direction through a facilitator, who uses extensive knowledge of NHS system changes to support the process.

Gloucestershire Practice Manager

As a practice we have always been very reactive, constantly firefighting, this programme has clearly highlighted to me the benefit of making the time to plan for the future to work smarter not harder.

Gloucestershire Office Manager

These changes will save a huge amount of time with staff planning & recruitment, but most of all safety.

Gloucestershire Office Manager

Superb support, guidance and insight from the Xytal facilitator. Looking forward to the next session.

Cambridgeshire

Really good communication and clear information. explained in great detail.

London

Finding the sessions really useful to focus on things we can try and develop often they are thoughts we have had but not found the time to focus on them this is allowing us to develop a plan to tackle some of our issues.

Dewsbury

A great facilitator and very knowledgeable with a great understanding of primary care pressures.

Bristol

Really helpful session – we made proper progress and have been able to move forward with a tangible plan.

Devon

Very positive conversations during this session which led to some immediate actions being set and executed well.

Devon

Really intense but productive session. We collectively feel the practice will definitely reap the benefits of being part of the programme.

Liverpool

The session was very useful and interesting; to have an independent body, with a fresh pair of eyes, looking at the way things are done is refreshing and has highlighted issues the Practice can reflect on.

Camberley