Government ambitions to move more care into the community risk being ‘critically undermined’ by a pay crisis in GP surgeries, the Royal College of Nursing is warning today (27 February).
In August last year, the government explicitly stated that additional funding for general practice would ‘enable practices to uplift GP and staff pay by 6%’, described by the Department of Health and Social Care as ‘their first meaningful pay rise in years’.
But the results of a new RCN survey of nearly 2000 general practice nursing staff in England reveal nearly three in ten (29.7%) of those directly employed by their practice received no pay rise in the last year, while nearly half (45%) said they received an increase of less than 6%. Only a fifth (19%) received the pay increase promised by the government.
In England, around 24,000 nursing staff work in general practice delivering vital services including running vaccination programmes, leading on long-term conditions and screening programmes, and playing a significant role in preventative health. Nursing staff needed to deliver these services are being let down and left behind when it comes to their pay.
This survey comes as public polling undertaken for the RCN shows more than half of the public (53%) said they did not think there was enough capacity in their general practice. Despite this concern, more than three-quarters (78%) said they regularly accessed their services.
As the pressures grow in primary care it means more people heading to already overcrowded and overwhelmed A&Es where patients are waiting hours to be admitted. Even then they could end up being treated in corridors in unsafe and undignified conditions.
The RCN says government must now show it values general practice nursing staff; a group who are crucial to the ambition to improve public health and focus on prevention and care closer to home. Nursing staff working in primary care need to see funds ringfenced specifically to cover pay that at least matches the pay, terms and conditions of staff on NHS terms and conditions.
Executive Director of RCN England, Patricia Marquis said:
“Nursing staff working in general practice work at the front door of the NHS and are central to its success, but they are being repeatedly failed by the government when it comes to their pay.
“While the government has made it clear that it wants to move more care into the community, it is failing to invest in those tasked with making it happen.
“An understaffed workforce is already struggling to recruit and retain people to the profession needed to deliver high-quality care to a growing number of patients. The government must now change the funding model for general practice and ring-fence money for staff.
“Failing to act will only push people away from an already depleted profession and risks more patients being driven to A&E where they will wait hours for care they could receive at or closer to home.”
Ends
Notes to editors
The RCN survey of members working in general practice found -
- Among the 1,658 respondents directly employed by their practice, three in ten (29.7%) received no pay rise for 2024/25. A small number (4.4%) were still waiting for confirmation of their pay uplift while 45% had received an award of less than 6% and 20.9% had received an award of 6% or more.
- Public polling figures in paragraph 5 are from YouGov Plc. The total sample size was 2,267 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 26th - 27th January 2025. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
Department of Health and Social Care – GP Pay Award – 3 August 2024
