The role of NHS genomic associates, assistants, and practitioners in England: Demographics, career plans and challenges faced

As the range and complexity of genomic testing has expanded over the past decade, genetic services need support to provide the best care for patients. Throughout the NHS in England, genetic assistant, associate and practitioner roles (GenPs) have been created to tackle some of the issues genetic services are facing. However, to date there is limited information about these roles and the individuals that take these up. The aim of this workforce evaluation was to explore the demographics, career plans and roles of GenPs as well as the benefits and challenges for these individuals to improve service delivery and care for patients. This is a mixed methods study. Firstly, an online survey was sent to current and previous GenPs to which we received 56 eligible responses. Those who completed the survey were invited to take part in focus groups to explore the benefits and challenges of these roles further. 17 GenPs expressed interest and 11 took part. These were recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed to extract themes. Our results show there is variability between tasks performed by individuals in these roles even with the same job titles. This highlights a need for a defined scope to ensure appropriate boundaries of the role. This data also highlights the need for further training, support and career progression pathways for these individuals.