Funding for ARRS general practice nurse roles outlined

Details of the funding available for new and experienced general practice nurses (GPNs) roles expected to be added to the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) from April have been released by the British Medical Association (BMA).

The maximum reimbursement amount includes the salary and some on costs for GPNs working across primary care networks (PCNs) in England.

The update came after the BMA last month accepted government proposals to add practice nurses to the ARRS as part of negotiations for the 2025/26 GP contract.

While the Contract for 2025/26 has not yet been published in full, the BMA has shared that practices employing new GPNs working on a Band 5 Agenda for Change (AfC) salary will be entitled to £43,352 as a maximum reimbursable amount per role.

Experienced GPNs employed through ARRS, at a Band 6, will qualify practices for a maximum of £53,319.

GPNs and GP roles are being added to the ARRS scheme for the first time.

The 2025/26 GP contract is expected to state that PCNs can only use the scheme to hire practice nurses who have not held a post in that PCN or any member practices in the last 12 months.

Last year, the 2024/25 GP contract saw the addition of the ‘enhanced level practice nurse’ role to the scheme – with reimbursements available of up to £60,401 on a national basis. One enhanced level practice nurse could be hired per PCN, or two where the PCN’s list size is 100,000 or larger.

This year, practices employing enhanced practice nurses under the ARRS scheme for 2025/26 will be entitled to a maximum of £64,907 available per role.

Last week, the early findings of an exclusive salary survey were discussed at this year’s Nursing in Practice 365 event in London.

Some attendees shared their anger and concerns about their pay and conditions, with one GPN reporting a pay rise of less than £4 after nearly three decades at her practice.

In February, an RCN policy briefing warned that practice nurses are not ‘additional roles’ but ‘a core part’ of the GPN workforce and accused the government of failing to address the long-term pay disparities faced by GPNs by instead directing funding through the ARRS.

In the same month, the union revealed that almost a third of general practice nursing staff in England have still not received a pay rise for 2024/25.

In January, an exclusive white paper published by Nursing in Practice’s publisher Cogora revealed that GP practices across England were struggling to recruit much-needed nurses because they are unable to match salaries given elsewhere.

The BMA confirmed that its analysis is based on a review of drafts of the new PCN DES specification and association which the union reviews before they are published by NHS England (NHSE).

NHS England has been contacted for comment.