Government expects 2025/26 pay awards to be passed on to practice nurses

The government expects GP practices to pass on a 4% pay rise for general practice nurses (GPNs) and other employed staff in England for 2025/26, it has been confirmed.

Separately, for nursing staff employed under the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS), the government has also confirmed that primary care networks will be given increased funding to cover a 3.6% pay rise. GPs on the ARRS scheme will get a 4% rise.

While the pay awards were announced several months ago – in line with pay review body recommendations for doctors and NHS Agenda for Change staff – it is not until this week that the government has provided some clarity on what the situation means for GPNs.

Reported first by our sister title Pulse PCN, the government said it was ‘increasing core funding’ for GP practices to ‘allow for pay uplifts’ for salaried staff, including GPNs, GPs and others in line with the 4% recommended by the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body (DDRB), backdated to April.

A government spokesperson said: ‘We are increasing core funding for practices to allow the 4% pay uplift to be passed on to salaried and contractor GPs.

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‘The additional funding will also allow for pay uplifts for other salaried general practice staff.’

To implement this through the GP contract – as the DDRB recommendation was higher than predicted by the government – it will provide a 1.2% top-up to the pay elements of the contract on a consolidated basis.

And the government expects general practice contractors to pass on the proportion of additional staff funding received to GPNs and other staff as pay rises.

Meanwhile, for non-GPs employed under the ARRS scheme – they will be entitled to a 3.6% pay rise for 2025/26 in line with Agenda for Change and the NHS Pay Review Body recommendations. However, GPs on the scheme will be given a 4% rise.

This week, the government confirmed that the maximum reimbursable amounts for ARRS roles – which includes GPNs, advanced nurse practitioners and nursing associates – will be uplifted in line with the 3.6% recommendation and that PCNs will be given increased funding to reflect this.

While the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) welcomed confirmation on the uplifts for GP nursing staff, it stressed that government action was needed to ensure the pay rises reach staff.

A Nursing in Practice survey last autumn found that 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.

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A separate survey by the RCN some months later at the start of 2025 found that almost a third of general practice nursing staff were still waiting for a pay increase.

Executive director of RCN England, Patricia Marquis, told Nursing in Practice: ‘Nursing staff working in general practice will see the increased funding as a potential step in the right direction.

‘It is positive that the government is now recognising the importance of addressing pay for general practice nursing, but this workforce needs to know they are a priority and see real commitment and action from government to ensure this reaches staff.’

She added: ‘Last year, our survey found that, despite the promise and expectation that funding would be passed on by employers, many staff working in general practice in England did not receive any pay rise. This must not be repeated this year.

‘We need to see specific guidance that ring-fences funding and that it is passed on to salaried staff to ensure nursing staff are not left out again.’

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When the pay awards were announced in May, the RCN criticised the government for its lack of ‘clear’ messaging around a pay rise for GPNs.

And at the end of May, it was revealed that practice managers are pushing the government for a dedicated funding pot that will ensure general practice nurses and other staff receive pay rises equivalent to their NHS counterparts.

A special General practice nurse pay: A salary survey of the profession 2025 report – produced with our sister title Management in Practice in April – revealed that the average salary of a full-time (or full-time equivalent) GPN working in the UK is only £35,057 and lags behind those working in NHS hospitals.