RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Motivating factors behind skill mix change: results from a practice managers’ survey in England JF British Journal of General Practice JO Br J Gen Pract FD British Journal of General Practice SP bjgp20X711401 DO 10.3399/bjgp20X711401 VO 70 IS suppl 1 A1 Jon Gibson A1 Sharon Spooner A1 Matt Sutton A1 Imelda McDermott A1 Mhorag Goff A1 Kath Checkland A1 Damian Hodgson A1 Anne McBride A1 Mark Hann YR 2020 UL http://bjgp.org/content/70/suppl_1/bjgp20X711401.abstract AB Background The expansion of the primary care workforce by employing a varied range of practitioners (‘skill mix’) is a key component of the General Practice Forward View (GPFV). The extent of skill mix change and where that has occurred has been examined using publicly available practice level workforce data. However, such data does not provide information regarding specific motivating factors behind employment decisions for individual practices nor future workforce plans.Aim To identify key motivating factors behind practice workforce decisions and their future workforce plans.Method An online questionnaire was sent to practice managers in England. Data collection is ongoing; however, 1000 practices have responded to the survey so far. The questionnaire was composed of questions related to current workforce, motivating factors behind employment decisions, planned future workforce changes, financial assistance with employing staff (for example, HEE or CCG funding) and ideal workforce.Results Early results indicate that practices that have employed physician associates have done so to increase appointment availability (78% of practices) and release GP time (68%). Sixty-six per cent of practices who have employed pharmacists have received some form of financial assistance with 21% of practices still receiving assistance. When asked to construct an ideal workforce, ‘new’ roles accounted for 20% of that workforce on average, which is a significantly larger proportion than those roles currently account for.Conclusion Although data collection and analysis are ongoing, the results of the survey provide novel insights into the underlying motivating factors behind employment decisions, specifically for new roles such as pharmacists, PAs and paramedics.