Practice nurses must no longer be ‘left behind’ on pay, urges RCN

The government has once again been urged to ringfence funding to ensure nurses working in general practice ‘receive the pay they deserve’.

The fresh appeal from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) comes after it was announced that general practice nurses (GPNs) in England are entitled to a 3.5% pay rise for 2026/27.

Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting confirmed on Wednesday that the government had accepted the headline pay recommendation of the independent pay review body for GPs, the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ (DDRB).

He 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) confirmed to Nursing in Practice that this meant salaried GPNs would be entitled to a 3.5% pay rise for 2026/27 and that the funding uplift should be used by practices to allow for a pay rise to be passed onto general practice staff.

But 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’.

Surveys by Nursing in Practice and those of the RCN 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.

The DHSC has said, as it has in previous years, that GP partners will be given funding to uplift staff salaries, but recognises that it is for the partners to determine the uplifts for themselves and employees.

Ms Marquis said: ‘The government is clear in its message that general practice staff should be included in this pay uplift, and we expect this to be honoured.

‘General practice nursing staff are essential in delivering NHS services and supporting their communities, and yet they continue to be let down by both government and employers when it comes to pay.’

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She once again urged the government to set aside specific funding for practice nurse pay.

‘We now need an urgent commitment from governments across the UK to ringfence funding so that nursing staff working in general practice receive the pay they deserve and are never again left behind,’ said Ms Marquis.

At the end of last year, speaking with Nursing in Practice, Ms Marquis set out why the college must be given an official space to negotiate GPN pay and conditions, and how supporting this part of the workforce was a key priority for the organisation.

Her comments came in response to concerns raised by Edward Morello, Liberal Democrat MP for West Dorset, about the need for ‘stronger advocacy’ for nurses in general practice, particularly in terms of pay.

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

Pay, conditions and the workforce pressures facing primary care and community nurses will be under the spotlight when Professor Nicola Ranger, general secretary and chief executive of the RCN addresses Nursing in Practice London this spring.