Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that pay awards for NHS staff are reflected in general practice settings.

The Government looks to the independent pay review bodies for a pay recommendation for NHS staff, including both contractor and salaried general practitioners (GPs). They consider a range of evidence from organisations, including the Government, the National Health Service and trade unions to reach their recommendations.

The independent review body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) has recommended an uplift of 4% to the pay ranges for salaried GPs, and to GP contractor pay. As with last year, we accepted the DDRB’s pay recommendation. We have provided an increase to core funding for practices to allow this 4% pay uplift, on top of the provisional 2.8% uplift already provided, to be passed on to salaried and contractor GPs. The additional funding will also allow for pay uplifts for other salaried general practice staff. Information on the funding increase was communicated to practices on 31 July 2025. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/implementing-the-2025-26-gp-contract/

The Government has written to GP Committee England to set out its expectations regarding the extra funding being used to fund uplifts for all staff and a letter to ICBs was published on 31 July, available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/financial-implications-and-actions-for-integrated-care-boards-icbs-following-the-mid-year-updates-to-the-2025-26-gp-contract/

We expect GP contractors to implement pay rises to other practice staff in line with the uplift in funding they have received. As self-employed contractors to the NHS, it is up to general practices how they distribute pay and benefits to their staff.