Action must be taken to recruit and retain practice nurses who have been ‘diminished and belittled’ in their roles, the chair of the British Medical Association’s (BMA’s) GP Committee (GPC) has warned.
GPC chair Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer said general practice nurses (GPNs) ‘must’ be included within the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) and given ‘parity of contractual esteem’ with colleagues in NHS trusts.
These calls form part of the committee’s newly launched ‘vision’ for the future of general practice, containing its asks for the new government.
Dr Bramall-Stainer was speaking at a webinar attended by our sister title Pulse last week when she warned GPNs had been ‘ignored’ for the last five years.
‘They are so highly evidenced, so highly trained, their value is unquestioned, and yet, they have been demeaned and diminished and belittled in their roles,’ she said about practice nurses.
She stressed that GPNs should be added to the list of roles included within the ARRS – of which primary care networks can use to recruit and reimburse the salaries of some staff.
This year ‘enhanced’ level practice nurses were added to the scheme, which already included nursing associates and advanced nurse practitioners. However, calls have been made for GPNs to be added to the scheme in their entirety.
Dr Bramall-Stainer and the GPC vision document also called for ring-fenced funding to be given to training hubs to support GPN nurse fellowships, as had been the case up until recently.
As reported earlier this year, national funding for fellowship schemes for GPNs – which covered retention and education programmes – were withdrawn in England in March. Instead, it is now at the discretion of integrated care boards as to whether such schemes continue.
In addition, the GPC wants to see practice nurses given ‘deserved parity of terms with their trust-employed colleagues in parental and sickness leave and pay via a reimbursement scheme’ – similar to what GPs currently get.
‘We hear time and time again the obstacle facing those nurses that wish to become practice nurses or wish to remain practice nurses is to have parity of contractual esteem with their colleagues based in the trust setting,’ said Dr Bramall-Stainer.
It comes as the BMA is balloting its members on whether to take ‘collective action’ against this year’s GP Contract uplift, which includes a staff pay rise of just 2%.
While GPNs cannot vote in the ballot, they are being urged to get involved in the BMA’s campaign and become part of its discussion around pay.
Earlier this month, the GPC wrote to the new health secretary outlining its asks for general practice, including for GPNs to have ‘parity of terms’ with those working in secondary care.
The Royal College of Nursing is also campaigning for practice nursing staff to have their pay and conditions in line with those working in the NHS on Agenda for Change contracts ‘as a minimum’.
