Timely pay uplifts for GP nursing staff needed now, says RCN and BMA

Pay uplifts for salaried general practice (GP) staff should be delivered in the September payroll, the RCN and the British Medical Association’s General Practitioners Committee England (GPCE) have said in a joint statement.

The organisations have outlined their joint expectations to see the promised increase and backdated pay to April paid without unnecessary delay, where government funding has been received.

This demand comes alongside growing concern that many nursing staff haven’t received full pay increases in recent years as employers say sufficient funds have not been made available.

The RCN and BMA stress that pay increases should be fully funded. We continue to call for ring-fenced funding for nursing pay in general practice to ensure it remains an attractive and sustainable career path.

• Read our joint statement

The statement outlines that we welcome the government’s ambition to shift resources from acute settings into primary care and the community but warn that this vision hinges on a fully funded general practice workforce, recognised for its skilled, patient-centred care.

The Westminster government confirmed a 4% pay uplift for all salaried general practice staff, including nursing staff, for 2025/26, as recommended by the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body. Additionally, primary care networks will receive funding to cover a 3.6% pay increase for nursing staff employed under the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme.

Together, we want to address the systemic underfunding of primary care, exacerbated by rising patient complexity, and increasing practice employers’ costs such as National Insurance and pension contributions. A long-term working partnership between the RCN and BMA seeking ring-fenced funding reimbursements at practice-level aims to secure real change and improved terms and conditions aligned to Agenda for Change for GP nursing staff.

The RCN remains committed to securing a voice for nursing in the next GP contract in England. It’s vital the nursing profession is recognised for the critical role it plays in providing safe and effective care in general practice and across primary care networks.

If you’re a member of nursing staff working in general practice in England, you can use the RCN’s letter template to write to your MP, to demand they stand up for you and your GP nursing colleagues by holding primary care networks and employers in their constituency accountable.