Pro & cons of being employed by the NHS v PCN

I’ve been looking at the same thing recently.

Through the PCN you should still get access to the NHS pension scheme, the roles I’ve seen say you can still contribute.
A few colleagues have done it short term and hated it, conversely a few went and loved working for the PCN’s.

My biggest concern was job security. Depending on your role, it’s as close as a job for life as you can get in the NHS. My understanding with PCN roles for paramedics/pharmacists/physios was that the PCN’s were initially receiving additional funding for 70% of the salary as incentive to recruit. If that is the case then what happens when/if the funding is taken away?

Pension is likely to be a biggy, but depending on your profession also things like peer support, governance, cover when you’re sick/on leave, line management etc. The pros and cons of working for a small business vs a big corporation. I know people who’ve had good and bad experiences working for a GP practice directly.

Echo the above comments really. Being in the NHS pension scheme is the best way forward, if the PCN cannot enrol you in this then the salary would need to be attractive enough to make up the deficit.

A PCN is not a GP surgery, they are different things.

My wife has recently changed from one NHS trust to another, adjacent NHS trust.

The atmosphere, the way they are run, support network and the mental stresses of each are completely different.

It may not be black or white, it might come down to a particular place of work.

Unless it's just the pension you are worrying about. So NHS

OP what does AFC stand for?

Agenda for Change, the pay scales used widely across the NHS from support roles up.

TMA (too many acronyms)!

AFAIA AFC is a TLA

I would want a much larger salary to work directly for a practice than being an nhs employee. I would want to be on arc rather than the whim of the gps who own the practice form my payrises and security of employment and annual leave entitlements aswell as the pension

Easier to change roles and progress when you are in the NHS (if that's an aspiration), often EOIs or secondments are internal trawl only.

I would want a much larger salary to work directly for a practice than being an nhs employee

Most ARRS roles (no, I've no idea why they thought that would be an OK acronym either) are employed by management companies set up by PCNs rather than directly by individual GP practices within a PCN, although I have seen instances where ARRS employee contract are held by larger GPs practices as they often have the contracts,  HR personnel and so already in place. Robert Darbyshire Practice (for instance) is a massive practice in Manchester, it's so huge, it's is own PCN.

I would want to be on arc rather than the whim of the gps who own the practice form my payrises and security of employment and annual leave entitlements aswell as the pension

You're not going to be offered a huge improvement over NHS bands and GPs/PCN are not encouraged to align their salaries with AFC. You may be able to negotiate an annual salary review into your contract, but you're probably not going to get an automatic pay increase. I don't know of any ARRS roles that haven't been offered the NHS pension.