Exclusive The independent pay review body for GPs has been asked to explore the reasons why many general practice nurses (GPNs) are not being given a pay rise and to ensure its future recommendations ‘expressly and explicitly’ include the nursing profession.
Nursing in Practice can reveal that the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has submitted evidence to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) ahead of its recommendations to the government on GP pay for 2025/26.
Half of GPNs without pay rise for 2024/25
In its submission to the DDRB – which in recent years has made recommendations on pay that have been applicable to employed general practice staff, including nurses, alongside GPs – the RCN flagged the volume of GPNs that have gone without a pay rise for the last two years.
The college points to the findings of an exclusive Nursing in Practice survey which revealed half of GP nursing staff across the UK have not yet had a pay rise for 2024/25.
Our survey of more than 550 nursing staff working in GP practices – GPNs advanced nurse practitioners, nursing associates and others – found that of those who had received a pay rise, only around one in six (16%) were awarded the 6% recommended by the DDRB in England.
The same survey also found that concerns over pay and feeling ‘undervalued’ were pushing GPNs to consider walking away from the sector.
‘The lack of uplift received by GPNs has consequences for recruitment and retention within the GPN workforce: the same Nursing in Practice survey established that a quarter of respondents (28%) said they were thinking of leaving their role in general practice in the next 12 months,’ the RCN wrote.
Of those wanting to quit the sector, the most commonly cited reason in our survey was because they felt ‘undervalued’ in their job (68%), followed by concerns that pay is not keeping in line with the cost of living (67%) or reflecting their responsibilities and workload (60%).
The RCN said a similar pay situation had been seen in 2023/24, when two in five respondents (44%) of an RCN survey said they did not receive any pay increase in 2023/24.
‘Unfair and inconsistent’ for GPNs
In its letter to the DDRB, seen by Nursing in Practice, the RCN wrote: ‘When looking across this financial year and the patterns demonstrated in the prior to financial years, it is clear the uplift that you recommended, that was intended to include other staff expenses including GPNs, is not being applied and distributed equitably by general practices in respect of our GPN members. This is unfair and inconsistent.
‘Whilst our GPNs spend their days delivering nursing care on behalf of the NHS, large numbers of those same staff now find themselves further away from the pay, terms and conditions of their peers who are directly employed in the NHS.
‘This is clearly unfair and unsustainable within the context of the wider health service and is likely to lead to more GPNs leaving general practice to seek more favourable employment and better pay elsewhere.’
The RCN stressed that its position remained that ‘where uplifts are granted to general practice, these should be passed to GPNs at the same time, including backdating those uplifts to the beginning of the financial year’.
‘This is not happening, and we ask the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body to explore and consider the reasons why this is not taking place and ensure its recommendations for 2025-26 expressly and explicitly state uplifts must include wider practice staff including GPNs to avoid this occurring in the next pay year,’ it wrote.
This year the government committed an extra £311m to help surgeries cover the extra cost of a 6% increase for employed general practice staff. The extra money was due to be paid to practices via the global sum in September.
In August, NHS England also made clear that it ‘firmly expected’ GP partners to use the income boost to fund a pay rise for practice staff in full, backdated to April 1.
It has been argued in the past that because of the complex funding system in place in general practice, some practices may receive enough to pass on a full 6% salary uplift, while others will not.
BMA calls for ‘adequate resourcing uplift’
Separately, the British Medical Association (BMA) has published its own submission to the DDRB, calling for GP practices to be given an adequate uplift to resolve nurse ‘pay erosion’ and support strong recruitment and retention of the profession.
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’.
In a joint statement last week, both the RCN and BMA issued a joint statement urging GP partners in England to pay their nursing staff a 6% pay uplift as expected.
Last week the government revealed in its submissions to the DDRB and the NHS Pay Review Body that it has set aside funding to offer general practice and NHS staff a maximum 2.8% pay rise for 2025/26.
Meanwhile, NHS England suggested an unaffordable pay recommendation for general practice and NHS staff would ‘significantly’ impact patient care.
The RCN’s submission to the DDRB comes despite the college pulling out of the NHS Pay Review Body process for staff on Agenda for Change contracts, amid concerns the system is ‘outdated and not fit for purpose’.
The Nursing in Practice survey results in this article are interim findings with more detailed data to be published in a full report produced with our sister title Management in Practice in early 2025.
Our survey was open from 20 September until 18 October 2024, collating responses using the SurveyMonkey tool. A total of 552 general practice nursing staff responded to these questions from across the UK, with the majority within England. The survey was advertised to our readers via our website and email newsletter, with a prize draw for £100 vouchers as an incentive to complete the survey. The survey was unweighted, and we do not claim this to be scientific – only a snapshot.
