Commenting on the BMA England GP committee update on the implications for general practice of the DDRB Report 2024/25, Andrew Pow, board member of the Association of Independent Specialist Medical Accountants, said:
‘Although the Global Sum uplift of £7.77 per patient is welcome, it is unlikely to deliver a 6% uplift on GP contractor pay.
‘In addition to the Global Sum, GP practices rely on income from other sources to fund staff pay and for the pay available to contractors. These include significant sums from ICBs for locally funded activities.
‘The proposal, however, contains an uplift only to the Global Sum and there appear to be no additional changes to QOF, enhanced services (both local and national) or PCN reimbursement. The latter will reduce the budgets available to PCNs unless NHS England adjusts the ARRS budget upwards to reflect the 5.5% uplift in Agenda for Change pay scales.
‘GP practices have already faced uplifts to the minimum wage of 9.8% in April and are now being asked to backdate 2024-25 pay rises of 6% for other staff. In most cases the Global Sum uplift should cover the additional wage costs, but not for all practices. That being said, GP practices are in a better position than in 2023-24 where the uplift was insufficient to cover the pay rise proposed by the government.
‘Overall this will leave practices with improved budgets, but the DDRB award is unlikely to deliver the 6% uplift to contractor pay envisaged by the new government.’