Minister pressed for action on practice nurse pay

The government has said it is committed to ensuring that the general practice nursing workforce is ‘sustainable, supported and valued’, but stressed that pay, terms and conditions are not ringfenced and at the discretion of GP employers.

Primary care minister Stephen Kinnock was responding to a parliamentary question on what steps the government is taking to ensure general practice nurses (GPNs) receive pay increases in line with national recommendations.

‘As self-employed contractors to the National Health Service, it is up to GPs how they distribute pay and benefits to their staff,’ said Mr Kinnock in a written response last week.

Related Article: NMC will proceed with consultation on registration fee rise

‘Funding for GP nursing pay is not ringfenced and contractual arrangements do not place any specific obligations on GPs with regard to GP nurse terms and conditions.’

In the summer, the government told Nursing in Practice that a new GP Contract promised by 2028 ‘could address’ practice nurse pay and conditions.

This followed ongoing concerns from across the profession around a lack of ringfenced funding for GPN pay which means not all practice nurses receive an annual increase and that many go without above-statutory sick pay or maternity leave.

For 2025/26, the government confirmed in July that it expects GP practices to pass on a 4% pay rise to employed GPNs in England and that funding had been given to support this – as per recommendations from the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB).

Related Article: Government launches six-month review into general practice funding

In his parliamentary response last week, Mr Kinnock reiterated: ‘We expect GP contractors to implement pay rises to… practice staff in line with the uplift in funding they have received.

‘The government has committed to a new substantive GP Contract within this Parliament cycle, and we will continue to engage constructively with the [British Medical Association’s] General Practitioners Committee England on issues such as staffing.’

A Nursing in Practice survey of almost 500 UK general practice nursing staff in July found that more than half (54.5%) had not yet heard anything at all from their employer about a salary uplift for 2025/26 – despite news of a 4% pay rise being announced two months prior.

Related Article: Practice nurses must ‘speak more openly’ about their value

And in April, a General practice nurse pay: A salary survey of the profession 2025 report, produced with our sister title Management in Practice, 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. 

The report, based on a survey of more than 500 GP nursing staff, suggested very few are given maternity pay beyond statutory (5%) and less than a third (32%) say they are given occupational sick pay above statutory levels.