The government expects GP practices to pass on a 4% pay rise for general practice staff and other employed staff in England for 2025/26, it has been confirmed.
Separately, for staff employed under the ARRS, the government has also confirmed that PCNs 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.
‘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 will be uplifted in line with the 3.6% recommendation and that PCNs will be given increased funding to reflect this.
A Management 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.
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 Nursing 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.
