The General Practitioners’ Committee (GPC) has announced that the majority of GP practices should offer salaried GPs a 4.5% pay rise, Pulse reports.
Back in July, the Review Body for Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) advised the Government that GPs should get a 4.5% pay rise, which the Government accepted.
But there appears to be no sign that practices will be funded to meet this recommendation.
Still, the GPC stressed in its latest bulletin, GMS and post-2015 PMS practices have a ‘contractual requirement’ as set out in the model contract.
Under clause 6 of the Model Terms, it states: “Your salary will be increased by annual increments on [incremental date] each year and in accordance with the Government’s decision on the pay of general practitioners following the recommendation of the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body.”
Dr Richard Fieldhouse, NASGP chair, said: “Every GP knows that the right thing to do here is to do what we would want to have done to ourselves, but that doesn’t stop us feeling uncomfortable asking for a pay rise when the country is in recession and everything else that’s going on.
“But to accept anything less, and in particular to go against the GPC’s advice, simply puts our profession in a weak position for future negotiations.
“And this is an even bitter pill to swallow for our GP partner colleagues, who took on the responsibility of partnerships in good faith to serve the NHS, only to be let down through no promise of funding to cover these increased costs.
“We have a very active Facebook group where salaried GPs regularly provide and receive support around pay and salaried contract issues, and any GP can join through this link.”
Salaried GPs can discuss this news story on NASGP’s closed GP-only Facebook group.