Government launches 2026/27 pay round for general practice and NHS staff

The health and social care secretary has kickstarted the 2026/27 pay round for general practice and NHS staff by asking the independent review bodies to support an ‘earlier’ and ‘more timely’ pay announcement.

Wes Streeting has this week penned letters to the NHS Pay Review Body and to the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration Body (DDRB) to commence the next pay round.

In recent years, GP practices have been asked to pass on the pay awards recommended to GPs by the DDRB to practice-employed pharmacists.

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Pharmacists employed by primary care networks under the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) are expected to be given uplifts in line with recommendations of the NHS Pay Review Body which covers staff on Agenda for Change contracts, which also includes hospital pharmacists.

For 2025/26, employed practice pharmacists are entitled to a 4% rise in line with the DDRB and ARRS pharmacists are entitled to a 3.6% increase as per the NHS Pay Review Body. However, GPs employed under the ARRS will be given a 4% uplift.

The kickstarting of the 2026/27 pay round has happened two months earlier than the previous year and comes as part of efforts from the government to ensure timely pay awards for public sector workers.

‘I would be grateful if you could support an earlier pay announcement by submitting your report at the earliest point that allows you to give due consideration to the relevant evidence,’ Mr Streeting wrote to both pay review bodies.

‘I recognise that changing the timeline from recent years will present challenges for you, but I am sure you also share the government’s belief in the importance of returning to more timely annual pay processes.

‘To enable you to submit your report earlier, our department will aim to co-operate with all your deadlines and bring the evidence process forward.’

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This year pay awards for NHS staff and doctors were announced by the government in May, backdated to April. For the previous pay round, the awards had been announced in July.

But it was not until last week that the government confirmed additional funding would be given to PCNs to cover the pay uplift for ARRS pharmacists and other non-GPs employed under the scheme.

At the same time, GP practices were also asked to use additional funding from the government to cover pay rises for employed practice staff.

In May it was revealed that more than a third (37%) of GP practices in England were considering or had already started replacing non-GP ARRS staff with GPs.

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Last month, The Pharmacist’s inaugural GP Pharmacy conference heard how training and upskilling pharmacists to work across different settings will improve patient care, avoid workforce competition and must be ‘the way forward’ for the profession.

A version of this article was first published by our sister title Nursing in Practice