Practice nurses look set to be added to the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) under a set of government proposals released today.
The Department of Health and Social Care this morning announced that it has put a new GP contract for 2025/26 to the British Medical Association’s General Practice Committee for consultation.
Under its proposals, the government confirmed the ARRS scheme – which is used by primary care networks (PCNs) to fund the salaries of some practice staff – will expand to include practice nurses.
However, it said that PCNs can only use the scheme to hire practice nurses who have not previously worked for any of its constituent practices.
The changes come as part of government plans to make extra funding available to support more primary care staff to find roles in the community.
Patricia Marquis, executive director of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in England, said GPN staff are a ‘vital part’ of primary care and warned that their role must be seen as ‘integral’ and not ‘additional’ to GP services.
‘We look forward to examining the details of the funding uplift but we first need to see a resolution to the situation that has left many nursing staff working in general practice yet to receive their pay rise from the last two years,’ she said.
The proposals fall under the new GP contract for 2025/26, which is now out for consultation with the British Medical Association’s General Practice Committee to provide its feedback.
In a letter to GPs from health and social care secretary Wes Streeting, seen by Nursing in Practice, Mr Streeting said further changes to the GP contract can be expected in 2025.
‘There will also be other proposed changes to the contract to bring about important reforms, the details of which will be announced, along with more details on the uplift and ARRS adjustments, following the consultation with the GPC (General Practice Committee) England in 2025,’ he wrote.
The health secretary confirmed that the government is proposing for general practice in 2025-26 will be £889m, a 4.8% real terms growth.
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said the update is ‘positive news’ but warned that GP teams continue to face ‘intense workload and workforce pressures and new financial burdens following the national insurance rises introduced in the latest budget.
‘As such, today’s commitment by the government to increase the share of the NHS budget for general practice is positive news for patients and the wider NHS.
‘We are also pleased to see the focus on ridding GPs of some of the bureaucratic burden that keeps them away from patients, giving practices more flexibility around hiring doctors and nurses, and the impetus on supporting GPs and our teams to deliver continuity of care, which we know has benefits for patients and the NHS alike.’
Earlier this month, the government announced plans for a 2.8% pay rise for nurses working in general practice and the NHS for 2025/26.
In April, the enhanced practice nurse role was added to the ARRS – and was designed to be a role that delivers ‘enhanced clinical care’ and to act as a ‘clinical role model’ for evidence-based practice.
Nursing associates and advanced nurse practitioners are also already included within the ARRS scheme.
