NHSE ‘expects’ GPs to pass on 3.5% pay rise to practice nurses
NHS England has said it ‘expects’ general practice contractors to implement a 3.5% pay rise to practice nurses and other salaried staff following an uplift to the global sum.
The global sum for GP practices in England has increased from £123.34 to £130.07 per patient from 1 April.
NHS England has today said that this uplift to practice funding ‘enables’ a 3.5% pay rise to be given to general practice staff.
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In its Primary Care Bulletin this afternoon it said: ‘The increase to practice funding enables the 3.5% pay uplift to be passed on to salaried and contractor GPs and pay uplifts for other practice staff.
‘NHS England expects general practice contractors to implement pay rises to other practice staff in line with the uplift in funding they are receiving.’
The comments follow the recommendations of the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ (DDRB) – which put forward a 3.5% pay rise for GPs.
In accepting the headline pay recommendation, health secretary Wes Streeting said this meant that for ‘GPs and general practice staff there will be a 3.5% increase to the pay elements of the GP contract’.
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The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) then confirmed to Nursing in Practice that this meant salaried GPNs would be entitled to a 3.5% pay rise for 2026/27.
It is typically down to GP practices to pass on pay rises to practice staff following an uplift to the pay element of the GP contract.
However, surveys by Nursing in Practice have shown in recent years that many GPNs miss out on annual uplifts, because funding for their pay and conditions is not ringfenced in the same way that it is for GPs.
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Last week, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) once again urged the government to ringfence funding to ensure nurses working in general practice ‘receive the pay they deserve’.
Executive director of RCN England, Patricia Marquis, said that while salaried GPs will see their pay increase, ‘many nursing staff working in general practice are still waiting to see any uplift in their salary from last year’.
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