Funding for recruiting GPs via the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) will no longer be ringfenced while salaries will see a boost, under the 2025/26 GP contract.
The contract offer, accepted by the BMA yesterday, will see NHS England ‘increase flexibility’ by combining funding for GPs, which is currently ringfenced, with the pot for all other roles, meaning there is no cap on the numbers PCNs can recruit.
NHS England has committed to the ‘continuation of funding’ for the cohort of ARRS GPs recruited in the six months from October 2024, which equates to £186m for the whole of 2025/26.
This represents an increase on last year’s funding pot – £82m for six months – in order to accommodate increases to GP salaries.
Following strong criticism of the current pay range for ARRS GPs, the BMA’s GP Committee has secured a commitment from NHSE to increase the salary element of the reimbursement amount by £9,305.
This means the bottom of the salaried GP pay range will increase from £73,113 for 2024/25 to £82,418 in 2025/26, which NHSE said reflects that ‘some GPs will be entering their second year on the scheme’.
This brings the ARRS GP salary in line with the BMA’s recommended pay range for salaried GPs, according to the union.
The current ARRS reimbursement amounts, which include employer on-costs and came into effect from 1 October, are:
- £92,462 across England;
- £95,233 for those hired in London.
‘Proportionate employer on-costs will also be included within the overall maximum reimbursement amount,’ the commissioner said of its 2025/26 contract offer this morning.
The overall maximum reimbursement amount, with separate weighting for GPs in London, and will be set out in the full network DES specification.
NHSE’s removal of the GP ARRS ringfence means PCNs will be able to claim reimbursement for new GPs alongside existing roles, with practice nurses also added to the scheme.
However, the eligibility criteria for such GPs will remain, meaning only those who have obtained their CCT within the last two years at the point of recruitment and who have not already held a substantive post in general practice can be hired via ARRS.
Restrictions will also apply to nurses in 2025/26, as PCNs can only hire those who have not held a post within the PCN, or its member practices, within the last 12 months.
The BMA said these 2025/26 changes are an ‘enhancement’ to the ARRS, but also said the scheme will be subject to a ‘joint review’ about its future throughout the next financial year.
GPCE leaders have repeatedly called for more long-term solutions to the GP unemployment crisis, and in August they called on the health secretary to direct all GP ARRS funding directly to practices.
In November, LMCs also called for the return of all ARRS funding into the core GP contract, in a motion at England’s LMC conference which argued that the PCN DES had ‘failed to provide meaningful support’ to practices.
NHS England has not yet published figures on how many GPs have been hired via the ARRS in the current financial year, with the primary care minister citing potential issues with reliability.
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