RCN and BMA demand practice nurse pay rise be given in September

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and the British Medical Association’s (BMA) General Practitioners Committee England (GPCE) have called for immediate action to ensure that all general practice nurses receive their promised pay uplifts this month, backdated to April.

The unions have today published a joint statement outlining their expectations for a 4% pay rise to be given to salaried practice nurses in England ‘without unnecessary delay’.

Together, they recognised that in previous years many nursing staff have not received a full pay increase because practices ‘have not received sufficient funds to pass on’.

‘This cannot continue if we are to improve retention and ensure general practice is an attractive profession for healthcare staff,’ the statement said.

The unions added: ‘We are united in calling on all GP partners to ensure where funds are received, they are delivered in the September payroll, backdated to April.

‘We would like to see pay uplifts passed on without unnecessary delay. We expect general practice contractors to implement pay rises to other practice staff in line with the uplift in funding they are receiving.’

The joint statement follows the government’s confirmation of a 4% pay increase for all salaried GP staff, including nursing staff, for the 2025/26 financial year.

A 3.6% uplift was also allocated for nursing roles under the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS).

The unions said they wanted to ‘address the systemic underfunding of general practice, exacerbated by rising patient complexity, and increasing practice employers’ costs such as National Insurance and pension contributions’.

And together they pledged to continue fighting for improved terms and conditions for practice nurses.

‘A long-term working partnership between the RCN and GPCE seeking ring-fenced funding reimbursements at practice-level will secure real change and improved terms and conditions aligned to Agenda for Change for GP nurses,’ the statement said.

Last month, Nursing in Practice revealed that only a quarter of general practice nursing staff have been told by their employer how much they will be receiving as a pay rise for 2025/26.

In April, an exclusive report by Nursing in Practice, based on a survey of 550 practice nursing professionals, found that the average salary of a full-time (or full-time equivalent) practice nurse in the UK is £35,057.

This number comes in lower than the government’s National Career Service salary estimates – which are calculated at £37,000 for a new starter GPN and rise up to £53,000 for an experienced GPN.

And the report – carried out jointly with our sister title Management in Practice – found that practice nurse pay lagged significantly behind NHS nurses on Agenda for Change.

At the time of our survey in autumn 2024, half of general practice nursing staff had not received a pay rise for 2024/25. Of those who had received an uplift, only around one in six (16%) were awarded the 6% recommended by the government in England for that financial year.

Separately, in May 2025, the government confirmed NHS nurses in England on Agenda for Change would be given a 3.6% pay rise for 2025/26.

But in July, NHS nurses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland voted to reject the government’s pay award for 2025/26 in a record RCN vote.

Also in July, a ballot held by the union Unite saw 89% of voting NHS members reject the 3.6% pay award given by the government for 2025/26 and state that they are prepared to take industrial and strike action.