Additional money to fund a 6% pay rise for general practice nurses (GPNs) and other salaried practice staff in England will be applied ‘shortly’, the government has confirmed.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) stressed it was ‘vital’ GPNs received the pay increase they were entitled to and urged that anyone who does not receive the rise should contact the college ‘who can make sure nobody is left behind’.
In July, the Department of Health and Social Care announced a 6% pay uplift for salaried GPs in England for 2023/24, which should also be passed on to all salaried practice staff, including GPNs.
This saw the RCN create a template letter for nursing staff who have not yet heard from their employer on the 6% pay rise, to seek clarification and fight for the uplift.
In an online statement announcing that around 150,000 NHS doctors in England will start to receive a pay rise this month, the DHSC noted the GP contract would be ‘uplifted shortly to reflect an increase of 6% for salaried staff’.
It reiterated that this funding would be backdated to April and noted that NHS England and the DHSC were currently ‘discussing this uplift with the GP committee of the BMA’.
Responding to the update, RCN England director Patricia Marquis told Nursing in Practice: ‘It is vital that nursing staff working in general practice receive the pay increase, and backdated pay they are entitled to.’
Ms Marquis said this pay increase was ‘a recognition of the essential role nurses play in primary care’ and pointed to its template letter for those who had still not had confirmation from their employer about the uplift.
She urged: ‘Anyone who does not receive the increase should contact the RCN who can make sure nobody is left behind.’
A version of this article first appeared in our sister publication Management in Practice
