GP practices must be given an adequate uplift to resolve nurse ‘pay erosion’ and support strong recruitment and retention of the profession, the British Medical Association (BMA) has said in its submission to the pay review body.
The BMA said practices needed an ‘adequate resourcing uplift’ in 2025/26 that would ensure ‘staff pay awards and rising costs can be met in full’.
This comes as part of the union’s submission to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) – which will next year make a recommendation to the government on pay for GPs and other employed practice staff.
Last week the government revealed in its submissions to the pay review body that it has set aside funding to offer nurses and other health workers a maximum 2.8% pay rise for 2025/26.
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Meanwhile, NHS England suggested an unaffordable pay recommendation for general practice and NHS staff would ‘significantly’ impact patient care.
The BMA has today published its evidence submission to the DDRB, in which it recommended salaried GPs must receive a pay award of 20% plus inflation next year.
The 99-page document also spelled out the funding challenges faced by GP practices, including issues with being able to afford staff pay rises over the last two years.
As exclusively revealed by Nursing in Practice, half of GP nursing staff have reported they are still waiting for a pay rise for 2024/25.
The BMA pointed to the complex funding system used in general practice, which allocates funding for practices per patients based on various factors including demographics. This is done through the global sum using the Carr-Hill formula.
‘That means many practices do not get enough guaranteed (core) recurrent funding to pass on the pay uplift to everyone/anyone,’ the BMA said.
‘This is an invidious position for practice employers and their staff to be in, not to mention terrible for staff pay erosion and morale.’
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This had meant that in 2023/24, GP contractors ‘had to choose which of their staff members would get a full/partial pay uplift’ and in 2024/25, they ‘had to choose whether to give their staff a pay uplift, leaving nothing for themselves, or split the increase income amongst themselves and their staff’, according to the BMA.
It said the situation must be ‘urgently resolved by ensuring a sufficient funding uplift to guarantee all contractors and practice-employed staff get the intended annual pay uplift’.
The BMA added: ‘Given that practices are reliant on global sum to ensure they have enough funding to uplift staff pay, an adequate resourcing uplift for practices in 2025/26, which ensures staff pay awards and rising costs can be met in full, will help to stabilise them in the short/medium term.’
This would help to resolve issues such as ‘GP and practice-employed staff pay erosion’ and ensure ‘strong recruitment and retention of GPs and nurses’, the union said.
Last week, the BMA and Royal College of Nursing (RCN) issued a joint statement urging GP partners in England to pay their nursing staff a 6% pay uplift as announced by the government.
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While recognising increasing costs and funding constraints, the unions have said they are in agreement that nurses in general practice should be given ‘a fair pay settlement that rightly recognises their core and essential nursing role’.
A survey carried out by the RCN last year found that found more than three-quarters (77%) of GP nursing staff in England did not receive the full 6% pay rise they were promised for 2023/24.
