An increase in the general practice global sum, intended for funding practice staff pay rises, should be paid to surgeries from this month, the British Medical Association (BMA) has said.

But the decision to pass on the uplift will be at the discretion of each employer, and will not apply to Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) staff, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has confirmed to The Pharmacist.

Earlier this week, the government published an amendment online that increases the global sum for GP practices in England from £102.28 to £104.73 per patient, in order to finance a 6% pay uplift for salaried staff, including salaried pharmacists directly employed by the practice.

This follows negotiations with the BMA’s General Practice Committee in England (GPCE).

Practices should receive seven months’ worth of extra money this October, since payments are being backdated to April, the BMA has said.

The extra money is worth a total of £233.14 million for 2023/24 and will be embedded for future years, the GPCE said in a letter sent to practices earlier this week.

Since the uplift is paid via the global sum, all practices will receive the same level of funding regardless of their staffing structures.

And DHSC confirmed to The Pharmacist this week that individual practices were at liberty to set salaries and pay uplifts for their employees, as they are self-employed contractors to the NHS.

Pharmacists employed under Agenda for Change or ARRS are not entitled to the 6% pay rise agreed with the GPCE.

But reimbursement for ARRS salaries has already been uplifted by 5% in line with Agenda for Change pay rises.

The decision to grant ARRS salary uplifts is at the discretion of each primary care network (PCN). And while PCNs are now allowed to spend more on staff salaries, they have not been given any increase in overall funding to do so, which may affect PCNs which employ a greater number of ARRS staff.

Versions of this article fist appeared on our sister titles Management in Practice and Pulse.