GP practices in the devolved nations are still in the dark about how the 6% pay uplift will be allocated by their governments.
At the end of July, the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) recommended a 6% pay increase for GPs in all of the four nations.
Last week, an internal BMA letter revealed that in England the global sum will increase by 7.4% in order to fund the GP and practice staff pay rises.
But the BMA’s GP committees told Pulse that there has been no progress in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
GPC NI said they expect the health minister to bid for additional funding as part of the next ‘monitoring round’, which provides an opportunity to review spending plans in the devolved nations.
This is expected to take place in October, but the BMA does not know when any additional funding would eventually be paid to GP practices.
GPC Scotland also said their Government has not yet reached an agreement but was trying to establish the final sum of money that will be made available to fund the 7.4% global sum uplift in England.
The Scottish Government will then know how much money the devolved nations will receive via the Barnett formula. However, GPC Scotland chair Dr Andrew Buist said they are hoping to improve on the offer to ensure expenses are also taken into account.
Dr Buist said: ‘We have had preliminary discussions as to how any pay award would be allocated across the GP contract (global sum, enhanced services etc) and have reminded them again that we seek the full costs of running the practice to be met to avoid the GP pay element being eroded by expenses, and we need to address the inadequate expenses uplifts 23/24 and 22/23.’
In England, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has provided the funding only via the global sum, which some have pointed out makes it more difficult to ensure a 6% uplift for partners since the global sum does not cover all income.
The GPC in Wales said that there has been no announcement of DDRB pay uplifts from the Welsh Government yet, and that negotiations for the 2024/25 have been delayed again until September.
In July, Welsh GP leaders said they are ‘actively evaluating all available options’ for dispute against the Government following ‘continued delay’ to contract negotiations, which have yet to start.
Last year, the BMA was told that the pay offer made by the Welsh Government to GP practices could be withdrawn to ‘offset other deficits’.
The Welsh GP contract also contains a clause which allows the Government to claw back any extra funding if practices fail to pass the recommended pay rise on to surgery staff.
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