Funding for ARRS general practice nurses revealed

Details of the funding available for new and experienced general practice nurses (GPNs) roles expected to be added to the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) from April have been released by the British Medical Association (BMA).

The maximum reimbursement amount includes the salary and some on costs for GPNs working across PCNs in England.

The update came after the BMA last month accepted government proposals to add practice nurses to the ARRS as part of negotiations for the 2025/26 GP contract.

While the contract for 2025/26 has not yet been published in full, the BMA has seen a draft copy of this and has shared that practices employing new GPNs working on a Band 5 Agenda for Change (AfC) salary will be entitled to £43,352 as a maximum reimbursable amount per role.

Experienced GPNs employed through ARRS, at a Band 6, will qualify practices for a maximum of £53,319.

The 2025/26 GP contract is expected to state that PCNs can only use the scheme to hire practice nurses who have not held a post in that PCN or any member practices in the last 12 months.

Last year, the 2024/25 GP contract saw the addition of the ‘enhanced level practice nurse’ role to the scheme – with reimbursements available of up to £60,401 on a national basis. One enhanced level practice nurse could be hired per PCN, or two where the PCN’s list size is 100,000 or larger.

This year, practices employing enhanced practice nurses under the ARRS scheme for 2025/26 will be entitled to a maximum of £64,907 available per role.

In February, an RCN policy briefing warned that practice nurses are not ‘additional roles’ but ‘a core part’ of the GPN workforce and accused the government of failing to address the long-term pay disparities faced by GPNs by instead directing funding through the ARRS.

In the same month, the union revealed that almost a third of general practice nursing staff in England have still not received a pay rise for 2024/25.

In January, an exclusive white paper published by Pulse PCN’s publisher Cogora revealed that GP practices across England were struggling to recruit much-needed nurses because they are unable to match salaries given elsewhere.

The table also included the maximum reimbursable amounts for GPs hired through the scheme, which has increased to £105,882, from £92,462 in 2024/25. This includes salary and oncosts.

It was previously revealed that the ringfence around the GP role in ARRS will be lifted for 2025/26, with funding for the ‘cohort of ARRS GPs recruited during 2024/25’ to continue equating to £186 million for the full year.

This is an increase on the £82m ringfenced funding pot, that was made available from the start of October to March, in order to support increases to GP salaries.

Clinical director at Enfield Unity PCN, Dr Sarit Ghosh, said the funding for GPs was ‘still lower than market rate in most areas’.

‘However, if high cost area allowance is applicable, then this narrows the gap further to a more reasonable reimbursement,’ he said.

The BMA confirmed that its analysis is based on a review of drafts of the new PCN DES specification and association which the union reviews before they are published by NHS England (NHSE).

Annual reimbursement rates 2025/26

*The rates are set at 50% of the standard levels, reflecting the 50% PCN contribution to the salary and employer costs for the individual delivering the service.

Table source: BMA

A version of this story was first published on our sister title Nursing in Practice.