AIBU to expect GP surgeries to implement the NHS pay uplift?

[SmallSoupcon]

My husband is an HCP working for a GP surgery (not a Dr, but he treats patients).

He's been hearing from NHS colleagues in other services about their government-issued pay uplift, backdated to April. However, there's no sign of it being applied at his surgery, despite very strong government guidelines that it should be.

He and several colleagues have emailed the partners but are being stonewalled. We obviously know surgeries are run as businesses so face different financial pressures to large trusts, but it seems grossly unfair to not even discuss it.

Are we being unreasonable to expect GP practices to pass this money on to their employees?

If there was some financial transparency and a conversation, it would help working relations massively. The silent approach is just creating problems, which isn't good for anyone.

If the partners operated as a LLP or company, you could look up their accounts at Companies House. If they are just a partnership, then their accounts are private. I have never come across a partnership where there is financial transparency with the staff; and imo it’s unrealistic to expect it.

The partners have to take the rough with the smooth - if in the last few years, cost of living rises in rent, gas, electricity, etc ate into their profits, they would have had to cut their drawings (= salary). If now, they are getting an uplift, they may be using that to go back to their level of drawings a few years ago.

To put in perspective for you, DH is in a partnership - he and his partner are earning 35% of what they did before Covid (and they didn’t get any furlough and had to pay business rates on their office, during lockdowns even though they were forbidden to use it). Do you think he and his partner cut the qualified staff’s earnings to 35%. No, they didn’t because they wouldn’t do the work! DH earns less than his staff now.

He cannot be an nhs employee if he is employed by the partners of the practice.
Either he is an employee of X practice doing nhs work (so may not be on nhs t and c)
Or he is employed by the nhs, and goes to work in the practice as nhs staff and therefore is not employed by them but needs to speak to his nhs manager/hr.

Just seen this - he is not an nhs employee. The answer to whether he gets this pay rise automatically lies within his contract with the practice and cannot be dictated by anything else.

I'm a GP Practice Nurse. We all got the 6% payrise, along with another 6% rise in October. We didn't have to fight particularly hard for the first 6% and the second was a surprise.
GPs are private businesses directly funded by the NHS so I guess we're like contractors employed by the NHS to do the community stuff and also why we all have NHS.net emails etc. We are governed by the NHS while also adhering to individual Practice policies but the Govt have given Practices extra funding to cover this uplift allegedly so it should be passed on.
I'm sorry OP that your husband's work are stonewalling them. Think he might need to shout louder and get the unions involved.

We all still get NHS pensions etc.

If the gp practice has a mortgage on their premises it will impact on running costs of the business

It sounds like your "perspective" is that employees shouldn't question partners as to the whereabouts of a very public pay award. Are you serious? You really think that it's good business practice for the partners not to disclose where it's going?

Yes! They can ask about the pay award if they want, but imo it’s ridiculous to talk about financial transparency in a partnership!

It's not a contract issue. GP surgeries have been awarded NHS money for their teams (not Drs, that's separate). DH's contract terms aren't relevant. The whole team are entitled to the pay uplift - surgeries have been strongly advised to fulfil it, but whether they do or don't seems to be a lottery.

I find that bizarre. Keeping your staff in the dark is never good practice. In the past, at other surgeries DH has worked at, the partners were clear about where money was coming from and going to, so even though things were tight the team knew why difficult decisions were being made. Finances weren't given at a granular level, but critical information about the financial direction was definitely shared. Huge resentment would build up otherwise, which is massively damaging to the team.

Thank you, I think hes going to. If the partners are having to make difficult decisions about where the money is going fair enough, but the least they can do is be open about it. Otherwise it's going to cause a lot of resentment. Well, it already is!

This is interesting. I work for a GP Surgery too and had no idea about this second uplift.

last time we got it in December (2023) and it was backdated. The Practice Manager is known for not being honest with the staff so I don’t know how to go about finding out if our practice has received it. Is there a way I can find out or are they all automatically getting it?

From our research it seems they're all getting it. Definitely worth looking into!

You are on England?
I'm in Scotland, we know we are getting an uplift but partners need confirmation that we will get it in November's pay before passing on to staff. Could this be the issue?

Are there regular staff meetings with the manager and possibly a GP in attendance? Are issues discussed. This is Good Practice and the care quality commission does not like practices that ignore this.

As part of the nursing team, is your husband involved in nursing practice meetings? Again good practice.

A practice that does not communicate well with staff is a shit practice. More than likely that shit arrogance is passed on in other ways. Are there other practices where your husband could look to move to that are better run?

There will be a Grievance Policy and poor communication is a fair paint to raise. Penalising a person who has raised a grievance is not looked at well by a tribunal - just saying.

Yes, the partners are not compelled to pass on the award and can keep it, but if the practice finances are so bad then it's not looking good.....

Thanks @GrouachMacbeth yes in England. He's not a nurse but is part of all clinical team meetings. Tbh he's worked at several GP surgeries over 10 years and they've all been chaotically managed to varying degrees - he's lost a lot of faith in the sector over that time. Currently this is a good senior role he's carved out for himself, and he's not really in a position to leave, but the management seem to be very cloak and dagger in their handling of staff issues in general. So their silence isn't a surprise, I guess it comes down to whether he has the appetite to pursue it.

Except it is.
Gp surgeries have NOT been awarded the full amount. They have not been awarded the add-on costs of giving 6%.
Your dp gets 6% but it costs the practice more in terms of additional employers contributions to pensions, NI and to a degree more expensive cover for any sick leave, holiday leave, paternity leave etc.

And no he is not ‘entitled’ to the rise unless that rise is in his contract. It is not mandatory from the government but strongly suggested. Very different. Gp practices are not the NHS but private businesses who can’t be mandated any more than your local butcher can.

Im sorry he’s been blanked, there may or may not be a rise coming, and he may need to push for it. But he needs to know his legal position and be correct in that position.

Things to consider the reception team are likely to be on minimum wage which is due to rise 6.7% (this will impact employer pension contributions). NI rides for everyone have to come from somewhere. Suddenly the 6% rise is disappearing very fast on increases the partners have no control over.
In a similar industry we have started to look at our 6% pay pot and see that a lot of it is disappearing on pay rises we can't control leaving very little for the members of the team whose pay we can control. We have already handy 3% redundancies and are anticipating more. We are an industry that charges and clients already complain about our costs.

I work for a GP practice and we’ve been given the uplift, everyone from admin to clinical staff have.

By "entitled" I simply meant part of the group the government intended it for. And yes, in his contract, which is for the individual practice but also includes some NHS terms such as his pension, he would be in line for this award were they to pass it on.
If the practice are not going to make the award, they really need to tell the team as it's already creating bad feeling. And if they're up against it financially, they should really convey this, at least everyone would know why.

They need to let him know but. There is an uplift to the amount of money the practice gets you're correct but maybe the practice has had other expenses and can't afford to give it. When the uplift is given to the practice they don't look at the employees and calculate how much they need to fund each individual wage increase it's just an uplift to the global sum.

Also as someone said it doesn't include the extra money for the superannuation and NI that is needed with a pay increase (never mind the new NI rates)

To pay someone £10k a year used to cost me the employer £12500 by the time I've factored in employers NI and superannuation.

My last year as a partner we had to retarmac our car park which was eye watering and put in 3 new boilers...that was high too so our budget was tight.

So yes an uplift of 6% has been given but that's for ALL practice expenses including heat/lighting cleaning postage phones repairs so if some things go up by more than 6% the practice loses out.

@SmallSoupcon but I agree he needs an explanation. I'm glad I'm retired. I looked after my practice finances for 15 years it was very hard at times.

I remember now they gave us a ‘cost of living’ in August. Backdated to April of 2%.

do you think that was it? They’ve told that was cost of living which we do sometimes get but have not mentioned any uplift that we’ve been talking about.

I asked for a payrise specific to my role in early September, they said they’d get back to me but haven’t so I wonder if they are going to claim that uplift again and pass it on to everyone in December like they did last year.

NRTFT, but if I were a GP partner, I would either calculate it myself, or ask my accountant to do it - how much the employers NI and NMW changes are going to cost in April 2025 first.

IIRC, the government has announced GP practices are private businesses and they are not going to be exempt like the NHS. If so, the increase in costs due to the budget changes will likely be financed by not giving staff pay rises or redundancies. I’d be surprised if GP partners are going to finance these increases out of their own profit share.

Any uplift given to GP practices for payrises for NHS staff was presumably not ring fenced, and therefore the GP partners could do what they want with the money and that includes not passing it on to the staff - including if they think it’s going to be eaten up by the budget changes, which imo is only prudent.

I just wanted to come back and update.

myself and our Practice Nurse both spoke to our PM about this uplift, I also sent two links (one from the Govt website) and asked the question. She replied with ‘the partners are aware of the 6% uplift’

So it remains to be seen.

Thanks for following up @thewickerwoman Fingers crossed you all get it!