Fair pay for general practice nursing staff

Primary care services, including general practice, are often referred to as the 'front door' of the NHS. General practices keep communities healthy and bring patient care to the heart of every neighbourhood. While general practices deliver contracted NHS care, the practices themselves are run as independent businesses, often solely funded by government and central health and care funding. 
 
This means that nursing professionals employed by general practices don’t always have the same pay, terms and conditions as their colleagues employed directly by NHS employers like hospitals. Employment terms are set by each individual practice, which can result in nursing staff receiving no protections beyond statutory sick pay and statutory parental leave.

We're calling on all general practice employers in England to give their nursing staff a pay rise, in line with increased funding for the 2024/25 financial year. Earlier this year, the Westminster government announced a 6% pay uplift for salaried practice staff in England, including all nursing team staff, employed by GP surgeries providing NHS services. 

If you have not heard from your employer about this pay increase, or your employer is not transparent about the pay you should receive, you're not alone. We're advocating on your behalf but there are things you can do too. 

• We’re part of the expert advisory group for the 2024/2025 GP contract alongside partners including the British Medical Association, Department of Health and Social Care, NHS Confederation, Royal College of General Practitioners and NHS England. As part of this work we are fighting to ensure the negotiations include maximising pay, terms and conditions for nursing staff employed by general practice.
• We’re responding to NHS England’s delivery plan for recovering access to primary care, making sure the needs of our members are taken into account.
• Our GP nursing forum is reviewing the RCN Workforce Standards to ensure they’re relevant and useful to nursing staff working in general practice.
• We’re developing a set of “good employment standards” for GP employers alongside the RCN Workforce Standards. These will provide GP employers with a clear guide on good employment practice, specific to GP nursing staff. The standards will also be a reference for GP nursing staff to help with discussions about working conditions and pay.
• As part of this, the GP nursing forum is leading a project looking at nursing career pathways and template job descriptions for nurses working in general practice.
• In partnership with NHS England and the National Association of Primary Care, we run a series of monthly webinars for GP nursing staff. 

We are working with the BMA to secure a better future for primary care and general practice nursing. The Chair of the BMA General Practitioners Committee England, Dr. Katie Bramall-Stainer, recently wrote to Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting MP calling for funding to enable recruitment and retention of practice nurses and parity of terms with trust-employed nursing staff. Read the full letter.