The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) says it will work to ensure general practice nurses (GPNs) receive ‘at least’ a 5.5% pay rise in line with their counterparts working elsewhere in the NHS.
It comes after the Government agreed to a 6% pay uplift for all GPs and practice staff in England and a 5.5% pay rise for nurses on Agenda for Change (AfC) contracts.
On Monday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed that the Government has accepted in full the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies, the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration Review Body (DDRB) and the NHS Pay Review Body.
This includes the DDRB recommendation of a 6% uplift for GP partners, salaried GPs and practice staff.
It is the first time the DDRB has made a recommendation for GP partners in five years. The DDRB report said partners ‘strongly expressed’ the ‘significant’ cost increases they have faced over the last two years, which they said ‘has not been matched’ by NHS funding increases.
According to the Government, the ‘pay element’ of the GP contract will be uplifted by 6% on a consolidated basis – which is made up of a 4% increase on top of a 2% interim uplift in April.
The Government has not yet confirmed if this will include funding for pay rises for employed general practice staff, including nurses.
Ms Reeves also confirmed the Government would meet the NHS Pay Review Body recommendation of a 5.5% uplift for nurses on AfC contracts.
In an email to members yesterday, RCN general secretary and chief executive Professor Nicola Ranger promised to ‘make urgent representations’ to ensure general practice nurses also received a pay award of ‘at least this amount’.
Professor Ranger said: ‘All nursing staff who provide NHS services should receive an award of at least [the 5.5% given to AfC staff], no matter where you work.
‘Your hard work and commitment to delivering quality care in general practice cannot be ignored.’
The BMA was disappointed at the uplift for GPs and staff.
Chair of the BMA GP Committee England (GPCE) Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer said it was ‘a step in the right direction’ but, even with the uplift, practice funding was ‘not even close to what it was even five years ago’.
Meanwhile, the BMA ballot of GPs in England for collective industrial action closed on Monday, and the results are now being counted.
The devolved governments are yet to say whether they will accept the pay recommendations.
The BMA in Northern Ireland has warned that there are suggestions the DDRB recommendations will be too costly for the province to accept.
Dr Clodagh Corrigan, BMA Northern Ireland Council deputy chair said it was ‘deeply concerning to see the Department of Health indicating they will not be able to afford the pay uplift without cuts to services’.
Dr Andrew Buist, Scottish GP Committee chair at BMA Scotland, said they would now enter a ‘detailed process’ with the Scottish Government to ‘ensure GP practice running costs are fairly met because unless we do that any pay award will not be achieved’.
BMA Wales said doctors ‘rightly anticipate that the recommendations of the DDRB will also be honoured in Wales’.
A version of this story first appeared on our sister publication Nursing in Practice.
