Primary care staff have already waited nearly five months for the rise to be implemented.
Nursing staff working for GP surgeries in England are still being refused their promised NHS pay rise.
In July, the government announced general practice staff should receive a backdated pay rise of six per cent to April 2023.
However, according to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), thousands of nursing staff working in general practice in England are being declined the full rise that they were promised.
It comes despite the government providing clarity to GP surgeries that the funding boost would be made available via an increase in the Global Sum. The fund provided to primary care services based upon the number of patients on their roll.
Some surgeries have raised concern this funding boost would not be enough to cover the cost of the rise which covers all salaried GP staff.
Today, the nursing union has written to Neil O’Brien, the Minister for Primary Care, with a clear message to ministers that this is not acceptable.
The College has also issued a joint statement with the British Medical Association’s (BMA) General Practitioners Committee to emphasise the importance of providing the pay award to all staff without further delay.
The bedrock of the services.
In her letter to Neil O’Brien, Minister for Primary Care, Royal College of Nursing Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said: “Nursing staff in general practice provide vital primary care to their local communities and are the bedrock of the services available in general practice surgeries.
“There is already clear disparity between employment terms of nursing staff working in general practice compared to other parts of the NHS. Now, their pay rise is months late, and for many the money promised could be missing.
“The RCN is unequivocal that all nursing staff working in general practice should receive the same 6% increase in pay as salaried GPs – as the government announced in July. Since that time, it has become clear that this promised increase is at risk for many working in practices that will not receive the full funding.
Ms Marquis concluded, “Our members working in general practice play a critical role in preventative care, early detection and addressing the backlog in primary care services. They already feel undervalued, and uncertainty over whether they will receive a pay uplift which your department made clear they are entitled to but may never come, will only compound this.”
The RCN will work with members to report issues to local medical committees and government if the promised pay rise is not received in a timely manner.
