The government has been criticised for its lack of ‘clear’ messaging around a pay rise for general practice nurses (GPNs) for 2025/26.
RCN England director Patricia Marquis also stressed that ‘guarantees’ must be put in place to ensure any uplift to the pay element of the GP contract will translate into a pay rise for general practice nursing staff this year.
Salaried GPNs entitled to 4% pay rise
The government last week confirmed a 4% uplift to salaried GPs and to the pay element of the GP contract in England, following the recommendations of the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB).
Nursing in Practice understands that the uplift to the contract should allow for the increase to be passed on to GPs and salaried practice staff, including GPNs.
ARRS nursing staff pay uplifts in line with AfC
Separately, general practice nursing staff employed under the primary care network (PCN) Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) should be entitled to a 3.6% pay uplift, in line with the recommendations of the NHS Pay Review Body for staff on Agenda for Change. This includes nursing associates, advanced nurse practitioners, enhanced level nurses and more recently, GPNs.
However, GPs employed under the same scheme are entitled to a 4% uplift recommended by the DDRB.
Related Article: School nurses could offer ‘key support’ for neurodiverse pupils if funded correctly
It has not been confirmed if there will be any extra funding for PCNs to meet these costs. Previously PCNs have had to fund any AfC uplifts from their existing budgets.
Lack of communication on GPN pay ‘disappointing’
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said the lack of direct communication from the government on general practice nursing pay had been ‘disappointing’.
Last year, the government and NHS England had openly stated that an uplift to the pay element of the GP contract was intended to cover a pay increase for employed general practice staff, including nurses, but this has not happened for 2025/26 as yet.
Executive director of RCN England, Patricia Marquis, said: ‘It is disappointing that there are no clear messages from the government or NHS England around salary increases for general practice nursing staff, as there have been in previous years.’
She added that ‘despite such statements last year’, many GPNs directly employed by their practice did not receive a pay rise.
‘They must not face the same situation again,’ she told Nursing in Practice.
A Nursing in Practice survey of more than 550 nursing staff working in GP practices last autumn found that half of GP nursing staff across the UK have not yet had a pay rise for 2024/25.
Of those who did receive an uplift, only around one in six (16%) were awarded the 6% recommended by the government in England for 2024/25.
Meanwhile, the RCN’s own survey of GPNs in February 2025 revealed almost a third of the profession was still without a pay rise for 2024/25.
Related Article: NMC appoints new executive director of strategy and insight
Ms Marquis added: ‘There must also be guarantees that the uplifts in contract funding will be passed on to all staff and will not come at the expense of cuts to frontline roles in general practice or elsewhere that could see patients waiting longer or missing out on care.’
In Wales, GP practices are required to declare if they have passed on a pay uplift to their general practice teams.
Fair pay reflects ‘how valued’ nurses feel
Meanwhile, Dr Helen Anderson, research fellow at the University of York, and previously a GPN and advanced nurse practitioner, said: ‘While the potential inclusion of nurses in general practice in the recommended pay uplift is welcome, it remains that uplifts in previous years have not been honoured and passed on to many general practice nurses.
‘Unlike salaried GPs, their terms and conditions have not been negotiated centrally by their union.
‘This means nurses often have to individually fight to receive uplifts, and appropriate terms and conditions, more broadly.’
She added: ‘Appropriate remuneration is important, not only because nurses have bills to pay, but it also reflects how valued nurses feel by their employers.’
Related Article: RCN publishes revised standards for UK-wide nursing workforce
A special 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 also found that more than a quarter (28%) of general practice nursing staff were considering leaving their jobs within the next 12 months, with dissatisfaction with pay and feeling undervalued are among the key reasons for this.
The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England have been approached for comment.
