Incentivising nurses to work in general practice and investing in the sector’s senior nursing workforce have been flagged as key challenges to an influential committee of MPs.
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) chief executive and general secretary Professor Nicola Ranger has today given evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee as part of its inquiry regarding the government’s 10-Year Health Plan.
Professor Ranger stressed the importance of investing in the general practice nursing workforce, such as in senior nurses who she said can support patient interaction and free up GP time, but noted that there were constraints.
‘It’s extremely difficult for many GP practices to invest in that senior nursing support within their GP practice,’ Professor Ranger warned.
As reported last month, primary care networks (PCNs) have warned they are struggling to recruit advanced nurse practitioners (ANPs) through the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS).
This has been in part down to challenges regarding a digital badge accreditation scheme – which is mandatory for ANPs securing jobs through the ARRS – that has been described as ‘discriminatory’ and ‘deeply flawed’.
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Professor Ranger also went on to raise concerns about attracting registered nurses to come and work in general practice.
‘The nurses and GP practices get paid less than the NHS,’ she told the committee.
‘So, it’s really difficult to incentivise nurses to come and work with GPs over time.’
Last night the government revealed it had ‘set aside’ a pay rise of 2.8% for nurses working in the NHS and in GP practices for 2025/26 during its evidence submission to the pay review bodies.
And NHS England today warned that making an unaffordable pay recommendation for general practice and NHS staff in 2025/26 would ‘significantly’ impact patient care and make the job ‘even harder’.
Professor Ranger told the cross-party group of MPs that there was ‘genuine disappointment’ upon hearing of the government’s plans for a 2.8% pay uplift.
‘We can see, I think, that this government is very genuinely interested in the NHS,’ she said.
‘I think we as a college absolutely believe in the priorities – particularly the shift from acute to community.
‘But there’s a golden thread here that has to make it absolutely essential, and that’s workforce.
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‘And the largest workforce for all of this, whether it’s community or acute, is nursing.’
She said she was ‘disappointed’ there had ‘still been no structural reform of nursing in this country’.
‘It is no longer just about a percentage pay rise,’ she added.
Also giving evidence today was Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs (RCGP), who warned of issues about access to placements in GP practices for nurses.
‘More and more people need to be trained in generalism, and the best place to do that is in general practice,’ she told the committee.
‘And that’s not just medical students and GP trainees. It’s nursing students, it’s physician associates, its clinical pharmacists.
‘The whole raft of the team needs to come out into general practice, and we don’t have the room to train them properly, nor do we have the trainers,’ Professor Hawthorne said.
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Earlier this month health think tank the Nuffield Trust published a report warning that GP practices are ‘often reluctant’ to take on nursing students due to funding constraints and a limited number of practice supervisors or assessors.
Separately, as revealed by a Nursing in Practice survey this month, more than a quarter of general practice nursing staff across the UK are considering leaving their role within the next 12 months.
Today’s evidence session comes as part of the Health and Social Care Committee’s inquiry into the development of the government’s 10 Year Health Plan.
