GPC England Chair, Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, has announced in her speech to Special Conference of England LMCs today (19 March, 2025) that the Government has formally committed to renegotiating a completely new national contract. GPC England has therefore now fully agreed changes to the 2025/26 contract.
We have received the Government’s commitment, in writing, “to working with the GPC England to secure a new substantive GP contract within this Parliament, without preconditions, based on collaborative work, and in the spirit of mutual trust and good faith, with general practice at the heart of a neighbourhood health service”.
The 2025/26 contract brings new investment of £969m on top of the £433m invested in autumn last year totalling £1.4bn investment since July 2024. This is a first step in the right direction for general practice in England and it follows two months of intense negotiations with the Government and a year of collective organising and action. Read more about the contract www.bma.org.uk/gpcontract
We know that you will still have some unanswered questions, and we will be sharing more guidance and FAQs very soon. We would like to offer our sincere thanks to everyone who has helped us by their efforts in taking collective action - we could not have secured this commitment to a new substantive practice contract without you.
Many of the items on the collective action menu are now superseded by the 25/26 contract but we now focus on what is needed locally: we continue to recommend practices work safely to prioritise safe high-quality patient care. We advise practices to engage with their LMCs and negotiate local contracts to secure appropriate resources to deliver safe care for our patients to stop patients falling through local gaps in commissioning.
These 2025-26 changes represent an important first step towards the recovery of General Practice services in England and set us on a journey towards making NHS general practice once again the jewel in the NHS crown.
Read the press statement: GPs have been neglected and bringing back the family doctor now a priority, says GPCE leader as DHSC commits to renegotiating new contract - BMA media centre - BMA
Contract negotiations – next steps
It has been a hectic few weeks with your GPC England officer team completing contract negotiations with NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care. For the past six weeks we have been meeting regularly to look at how the GP contract will change from April 2025. This was on the back of the announcement by Secretary of State Wes Streeting MP of additional investment into general practice for the forthcoming contractual year.
The next step is for GPC England to meet on Thursday 27 February where the officer team will outline the contract proposals, and a full discussion and debate will occur. GPC England is the nationally recognised body that oversees contract negotiations and have the authority to agree, reject or ask for changes to any contract proposal. It will be a full day of discussion, and we will let you know the outcome of any decision as soon as possible.
Plenty of other work has continued during this time including meetings with the RCGP, the Royal College of Nursing, pharmacy colleagues and many others to progress with our aim to make general practice a well-resourced and better place to work in the coming years. As ever, thank you for all you do day to day in such challenging circumstances. We are totally committed to make your day-to-day life better for you, your team and for the patients we all look after.
Dr David Wrigley
GPC England deputy chair
Email: dwrigley@bma.org.uk
February 2025 collective action tracker survey
The February collective action tracker survey opened on Monday 17 February and will remain open for two weeks, closing on 2 March at 5pm. Your response to this is hugely helpful to us and we would ask you take a few minutes to complete it.
Is your practice taking part in collective action? We encourage all GP partners or practice managers to share their experiences by completing this short survey. No identifiable data will be created as a result of this survey.
We continue to produce guidance around collective action, with the latest being guidance on how secondary care colleagues may be affected and ways they can support GPs in this campaign.
Please refer to our Safe Working Guidance Handbook and the BMA’s GP campaign webpage for more information. We appreciate your participation in collective action.
Special England LMC Conference 2025
The Special LMC Conference will be held on Wednesday 19 March 2025 at Friends House, London. The day will start at 10.00am and finish at 5.00pm. LMCs may wish to bear this in mind when arranging transport and accommodation.
This Special Conference was called at the 2024 Annual Conference of England LMCs. Under Standing Order 2 the only business to be considered will be “to discuss and determine what escalatory steps will be needed to ensure the survival of what still remains of English general practice”.
The deadline for registration has now passed. If you have any questions, please email info.lmcconference@bma.org.uk.
GP unemployment crisis
Despite the rising demand for family doctors to provide care, a Kafkaesque situation now exists in which a significant number of highly skilled GPs are struggling to secure work.
The BMA’s UK Sessional GP Committee surveyed salaried and locum members to help highlight this pressing and absurd situation of the growing unemployment/underemployment crisis among GPs. The survey closed on Monday and the results will be shared in due course.
Last week, we held a virtual rally to address the urgent issue of sessional GP unemployment.
If you missed the rally, you can watch the recording here.
Maternity leave
We are thrilled to announce a significant enhancement to maternity leave benefits for salaried GPs, following a recent unanimous vote by GPC UK. The number of weeks at half pay for maternity leave will increase from 14 weeks to 18 weeks. This change aligns maternity leave provisions with those of hospital doctors and ensures salaried GPs are no longer at a detriment to their hospital-based colleagues.
We have produced guidance, resources and template letters to aid the implementation of this change. The new maternity leave benefits are as follows:
13 weeks at SMP or MA, as entitled under the statutory scheme.
This change was made possible thanks to the unity and collective resolve of our profession.
By implementing this new maternity leave pay change, we're not just helping individuals, but also strengthening our profession. These enhanced benefits reflect our commitment to supporting salaried GPs throughout their working lives.
Next Steps: We recommend all practices discuss these changes with their salaried GPs. Following which, we recommend that a contract variation letter is issued to each salaried GP to reflect these changes. Further information and the relevant contract variation letters can be found on our website.
We recommend that you make these changes before 1 April 2025, but we encourage all practices to make these changes as soon as possible, to ensure that no salaried GPs miss out.
Spending review
The BMA recently submitted its representation to the Department for Health and Social Care for the Comprehensive Spending Review, setting the case for sustained investment. The BMA advocated for a 4.2% average annual increase in the day-to-day spending budget of DHSC, with funding reserved to deliver an uplift in the GP Practice core funding (Global Sum) by at least £40 per patient per year, amounting to £2.5 billion extra per year. In addition, the BMA also called on the government to build on the capital investment announced in the most recent budget and increase capital spending by a further £3.3 billion in real terms per year, to help deliver needed improvements to the primary care estate. The full submission can be accessed on the BMA website.
GPC England regional elections
The BMA GP Committee for England will be seeking nominations for voting members of the committee for the 2024-2027 sessions, as regional representatives for the following constituencies:
Nominations will open on 7 March 2025 at 12pm and close on 21 March 2025 at 12pm.
If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact elections@bma.org.uk.
For more information about BMA elections please go to https://www.bma.org.uk/elections.
Special Rules for end of life benefits (SREL)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has released an online service for the SR1 form.
Healthcare professionals can support a patient’s benefit claim made with the Special Rules by completing an SR1 form. Once submitted, this tells DWP that a patient might be eligible for financial support as they may have less than 12 months to live.
The service aims to:
If you have any questions or problems using the service, email DWP at online.sr1@dwp.gov.uk
Access healthcare professional resources for the Special Rules for end of life
GPCE Guidance, media and contacts
Read the latest GPCE bulletin: https://bma-mail.org.uk/t/cr/AQiEtRUQn_gYGOHMsxfCw1mJQ0XyOY89cWX8xJ0PzOSo1aNOfU49kMuL1wZM3g
GP Collective action – Secondary care guidance
Thank you all for continuing to develop and expand on our collective action to protect our patients and practices.
We recognise the particular challenges across the primary and secondary interface, and want to ensure all specialist colleagues are aware of the purpose and aims of GP Collective Action. To this end GPC England and the UK Consultants Committee have developed explanatory resources hospital and trust-based colleagues.
Our new webpage https://www.bma.org.uk/secondarycareGPaction outlines how secondary care colleagues may be affected and ways they can support GPs in this campaign. This includes a downloadable PowerPoint presentation which LNCs (Local Negotiating Committees) can use in their patch, an at-a-glance fact sheet that can be displayed in Trusts, and a recorded webinar offering further insights.
Please also continue to refer to our collective action Protect your patients, protect your practice webpage, which explains in more detail the nine actions that practices can choose to take. It also contains more information such as the Safe Working Guidance Handbook, Campaign resources and Patient materials.
As negotiations for the GP contract 2025/26 progress, this is a pivotal moment for all GPs to unite as a profession – not just for safe and sustainable general practice, but for a safe, sustainable and stronger NHS too.
Primary care joint parliamentary event 28 January
Last week GPC England jointly hosted an MP parliamentary drop in event for MPs in Westminster. The event on the future of primary care was held jointly with the British Dental Association, Community Pharmacy England, the Optometric Fees Negotiating Committee and the Association for Primary Care Audiology Providers and was attended by over 40 MPs. These included members of the health and social care select committee and shadow health ministers. During the event we outlined key concerns related to workforce and funding and encouraged MPs to sign a joint letter to the Health Secretary calling for increased support for primary care.
Special England LMC Conference 2025
The Special England LMC Conference will be held on Wednesday 19 March 2025 at Friends House, London. This was supported during the Conference of England LMCs held in November last year, as an opportunity to evaluate the critical state of general practice in light of any government contractual offer for 2025/26, and ahead of the Spring three-year Spending Review and the publication of the NHS Ten Year Plan:
The focus will be to discuss and determine what escalatory steps will be needed to ensure the survival of what still remains of English general practice.
Please note that the deadline for registration is Monday 17 February 2025 and no late requests for registration will be accepted after this date. Instructions to register have been sent to LMCs. Thank you to all LMCs who have submitted motions.
If you have any questions, please email info.lmcconference@bma.org.uk.
Help address the GP unemployment crisis
Despite the rising demand for family doctors to provide care, a Kafkaesque situation now exists in which a significant number of highly skilled GPs are struggling to secure work.
The BMA’s UK Sessional GP Committee is looking for salaried and locum members to help highlight this pressing and absurd situation of the growing unemployment/underemployment crisis among GPs. Please take a few minutes to share your experiences by completing our survey.
Your input is critical to understanding the full extent and impact of this crisis and to strengthen our lobbying efforts for tangible change.
Join the sessional GPs unemployment virtual rally
Wednesday 12 February, 7.30-9pm|We invite you to join this virtual rally and address the urgent issue of sessional GP unemployment. This is your chance to be part of the campaign, share your voice, and mobilise for change.
Together, we can amplify our message and advocate for progress, plus, you can learn how the BMA is committed to supporting you and all GP colleagues.
Register here
NHS Mandate and NHSE planning guidance - improving access to general practice
Published last week, the UK Government’s new mandate for the NHS and NHS England’s planning guidance for 2025/26both emphasise improving patient access to general practice and primary care. Neither document establishes clarity in terms of how this will be achieved, but the new Mandate does refer to investment in upgraded GP surgeries and in data and digital tools.
2023-24 type 2 pension forms for sessional GPs
We have recently highlighted the change of form and upload process for type 2 pension forms for 2023-24. Sessional GPs are required to complete a Type 2 Self-Assessment for each pension year, so that NHS England can ensure that all NHS pension contributions have been correctly paid and then accurately allocated to that GP’s NHS Pension Scheme record.
The relevant forms must be completed by those who have undertaken practitioner pensionable work between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024, and should be submitted to PCSE by 28 February 2025. PCSE and the BMA Pensions Committee have held two webinars to explain the new form and the process to upload the forms. Watch a recording of the webinar
UK LMC Conference – Deadline reminders
The deadlines for the UK LMC conference being held on 8 and 9 May in Glasgow are as follows:
Motions should be submitted via this form by 12 noon, on 17 February 2025.
Registration deadline is 3 April 2025 and you can register here
For instructions on how to submit motions and register, please see the email sent on 6 December 2024.
Please note that if you haven't been registered by this deadline you will not be eligible to attend the conference, even if hotels/trains etc have been booked. It is the LMC’s responsibility to ensure that all their reps and observers are registered. If you are unsure if you have been registered, then please email Karen Day at kday@bma.org.uk. Any other queries can be sent to info.lmcconference@bma.org.uk
Resident Doctor dispute on exception reporting
Despite its best-efforts during negotiations, the BMA’s UKRDC (UK resident doctors committee) have announced they will be entering into a dispute with the Government over the contractual reform of exception reporting (ER). The GPRC (GP registrars committee) met last week and passed a motion which offers their full support to UKRDC in entering a dispute to drive the negotiations to an effective resolution. Read more here
GPC England Regional Elections – coming soon
GPs Committee England will soon be seeking nominations for voting members of the committee for the 2024-2027 sessions, we will be electing one representative from each of the following regions:
For more information about BMA elections
GPCE Guidance, media and contacts
Read the latest GPCE bulletin: GP collective action | primary care parliamentary event | special England LMC conference
Update from GPC England
It may appear quiet on the GPCE front, while we are focused on negotiations with Government, DHSC and NHSE, which we anticipate will conclude next month. The Secretary of State, Wes Streeting wrote to me last week, and I shall be meeting the Minister for Primary Care, Stephen Kinnock later this week.
Government is well aware of the upcoming Special England LMC Conference on Wednesday 19 March to focus on potential ‘escalatory steps needed to ensure the survival of what still remains of English general practice’ (further details below), and the lack of GP employment opportunities. The Special Conference is also to consider the 2025-26 offer from the DHSC / NHSE. The key milestone however, was always going to be the Spring 2025 three year spending review – Treasury's instruction manual for planned costs between now and 2028. This is where, together with the NHS Ten Year Plan, we need to see practice resource restoration set out and a new substantive contract for practices across England, as iterated in our manifesto Patients First.
GP Unemployment Crisis & ARRS Roles
NHSE has written to Primary Care Networks (PCNs) encouraging them to use their GP ARRS funding in 2024/25 to recruit recently qualified GPs. NHSE states they will be monitoring the data on the number of GPs recruited, and are doubling down on ICBs to work with those PCNs who have not yet taken advantage of the GP ARRS funding. The Secretary of State is no doubt frustrated that despite removing the barriers to enable GPs to be recruited, his announced target of 1000 new GPs is far from being realised, yet the numbers of unemployed GPs continue to make headlines. The reason is simple – the ARRS mechanism is not appropriate for GP roles, and the funding is woefully insufficient.
The failure for GPs to find work, often when newly-qualified, but increasingly more generally, is completely unacceptable. It is estimated that between 20-33% of GP Registrars are failing to secure substantive roles after qualifying. Training more GPs whilst depriving practices of the necessary funds to recruit those same GPs is a failure of NHSE. Worse still, even when joining the profession, 25% of these GPs appear to be leaving their roles.
ARRS GPs are not the answer to ‘bringing back the family doctor’. Rather than 1000 new GPs, comparing December 2024 with June 2024’s data there was a gain of a mere 111 (FTE) salaried GPs, and 8 (FTE) locums. There are currently estimated to be around 3500 under-employed or unemployed (FTE) GPs out there. There is an opportunity to change this for 2025/26, if NHSE take it. Please join the BMA’s UK Sessional GP Committee on their Virtual Rally on Wednesday 12 February – see below.
Special England LMC Conference 2025
A Special England LMC Conference will be held on Wednesday 19 March 2025, at Friends House, London. This was requested during the Conference of England LMCs on Friday 22 November to further assess the critical state of general practice in light of any government contractual offer, and ahead of the Spring three year spending review and the publication of the NHS Ten Year Plan:
The focus will be to discuss and determine what escalatory steps will be needed to ensure the survival of what still remains of English general practice.
Instructions to register and submit motions have been sent to LMCs. If you have any questions, please email info.lmcconference@bma.org.uk.
Help address the GP unemployment crisis
Despite the rising demand for family doctors, an appalling paradox exists where a significant number of highly skilled GPs are struggling to secure work.
The BMA’s UK Sessional GP Committee is looking for salaried and locum members to help highlight this pressing and absurd situation of the growing unemployment crisis among GPs. Please take a few minutes to share your experiences by completing our survey.
Your input is critical to understanding the full extent of this crisis, and strengthening our lobbying efforts for meaningful change.
Join the sessional GPs unemployment virtual rally
Wednesday 12 February, 7.30-9pm|We invite you to join us in addressing the urgent issue of sessional GP unemployment. This is your chance to be part of the conversation, share your voice, and mobilise for change.
Together, we can amplify our message and advocate for progress, plus, learn how the BMA is committed to supporting you and all GP colleagues. Register here
GP collective action
Thank you for continuing to build on our collective action to protect our patients and practices.
We recognise the challenges across the primary and secondary interface, which is why GPCE and UK Consultants Committee are working together to produce resources to help ‘translate’ collective action for our hospital and trust-based colleagues.
There will be a mailout to the profession from the BMA Chair of Council very soon to all branches of practice to explain and galvanise support for GPs from secondary care colleagues, alongside a microsite with links to multiple resources including slides which LNCs can present and ‘at a glance’ fact sheets to and explain that secondary care doctors can stand shoulder to shoulder with GP colleagues.
Safe working guidance – ‘core’ general practice
As part of the safe working guidance for GP practices in England, we have developed a section focusing on ‘core’ general practice to help you identify which services are included within ‘core GMS’.
It’s essential that GPs and practices focus on delivering services that are properly commissioned and resourced. It is not always clear which services are included within ‘core GMS’, leading to some practices potentially offering unfunded services. To help clarify, we’ve compiled a list of locally commissioned services that should be commissioned separately. If your practice is asked to provide un-commissioned services, we recommend declining and working with your local ICS (integrated care system) to ensure proper commissioning.
Explore the list of services and learn more
Westminster update
The fourth day of Committee stage on the National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill be taken on Thursday 6 February, we continue to brief peers on the Bill, and have received ongoing mentions throughout committee stage. You can read the latest debate here.
GPCE deputy chair, Dr David Wrigley this week provided oral evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee to inform their evidence session on What progress is being made in preventing cardiovascular disease. During the session he outlined the role GPs played in providing health checks, the use of IT to identify patients at risk of cardiovascular disease, and the impact of outsourcing health checks on patients, and the wider health services.
We briefed MPs ahead of a Westminster Hall debate on doctor welfare tabled by consultant Dr Peter Prinsley MP. During the debate he commented, “Our GPs are under pressure as never before. Who is looking out for them? They face massive lists of patients and huge demands. We know that we must support them, for they are the front door of our NHS”.
GPCE leaders attended a report launch in Westminster by Pulse and its publishers Cogora showing that around a quarter of salaried GPs and locums are looking for a permanent role at the same time as practices are facing a shortfall in GP numbers. This important report highlights the concerns which the BMA has been raising regarding GP unemployment.
LMC Secretaries Conference 2025
The LMC secretaries conference is taking place on Friday 7 February 2025 at BMA House in London. To register to attend please use the online application form available here, each person attending the conference must register by completing a registration form regardless of how they are planning to attend i.e. first, second or observer, the closing date for registration is Friday 24 January 2025.
Please contact the GPC office at info.lmcconference@bma.org.uk with any queries.
GPC Preventing sexual misconduct in the workplace - live webinar Thursday 6 February, 1-2pm
This live webinar will explain NHSE’s new work to prevent sexual misconduct at work, including the sexual safety charter and what they want employers to be doing to support staff. It will also explain the role of the BMA in providing support to our members who have been a target of sexual misconduct and how doctors can be better allies when they witness this behaviour at work. Register for free here
GPC England Regional Elections – coming soon
GPs Committee England will soon be seeking nominations for voting members of the committee for the 2024-2027 sessions, we will be electing one representative from the following regions:
For more information about BMA elections
GPCE Guidance, media and contacts
Read the latest GPCE bulletin: Special England LMC conference | sessional GP unemployment | collective action
Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer
Chair, GPC England
Email: info.lmcqueries@bma.org.uk (for LMC queries)Email: info.gpc@bma.org.uk (for GPs an
This week the Government has made a number of announcements, including resourcing GPs to deliver Advice and Guidance (A&G) at £20 per episode to be able to sort out clinical issues and queries you have about a patient. At least £80m has been earmarked for A&G use and this is in addition to the £889m announced by the Secretary of State on 20 December.
This is a small positive step and something we had already suggested to the government. Suspending A&G is one of the items on our Collective Action menu as an unresourced piece of work, but if this is successfully negotiated into the 25/26 contract and fairly resourced, then it could be dropped from the menu. We have yet to see any detail on how the A&G plan will be rolled out and will advise you about this as soon as we can. We are in active discussion with government on this and other contract issues.
Many of you want to see significant investment going into uplifting core contracts, and of course we are all doing more work than ever before, in the knowledge that our share of NHS funding is at a very low level. We will continue to press this issue in our current negotiation meetings.
We hope this is the beginning of NHSE and ICBs making sensible decisions about where it is best to invest, and this seems to be an example of the Government’s commitment to increase funding into general practice. It is a small step forward on the journey to what we really need. But as ever – nothing is agreed until everything is agreed and we are now actively engaged with NHSE and the Department of Health on proposed contract changes for April 2025 and beyond.
Watch the video recorded by GPCE Chair, Dr Katie Bramall Stainer, for a full update on the key issues.
There is a statement by the GPCE, in response to the Government’s announcement of an £889m funding uplift for general practice in England for 2025/26, as set out in the letter from Wes Streeting MP on 20 December.
As ever thank you for all you do for your patients and your practice and let us hope 2025 is a better year for us all so we can make NHS general practice sustainable for the future.
January 2025 collective action tracker survey
The January collective action tracker survey will open on Monday 13 January and will remain open for two weeks, closing on 26 January at 5pm. Your response to this is hugely helpful to us and we would ask you take a few minutes to complete it.
Is your practice taking part in collective action? We encourage all GP partners or practice managers to share their experiences by completing this short survey. No identifiable data will be created as a result of this survey.
We have produced guidance around individual collective actions to support practices in undertaking specific actions. Please refer to our refreshed Safe Working Guidance Handbook and to the BMA’s GP campaign webpage for more information. We appreciate your participation in collective action.
Special England LMC Conference 2025
The Special LMC Conference will be held on Wednesday 19 March 2025 at Friends House, London. The day will start at 10.00am and finish at 5.00pm. LMCs may wish to bear this in mind when arranging transport and accommodation.
This Special Conference was called at the 2024 Annual Conference of England LMCs. Under Standing Order 2 the only business to be considered will be “to discuss and determine what escalatory steps will be needed to ensure the survival of what still remains of English general practice”.
Instructions to register and submit motions have been sent to LMCs.
If you have any questions, please email info.lmcconference@bma.org.uk.
LMC Secretaries Conference 2025
The LMC secretaries conference is taking place on Friday 7 February 2025 at BMA House in London. To register to attend please use the online application form available here, each person attending the conference must register by completing a registration form regardless of how they are planning to attend i.e. first, second or observer, the closing date for registration is Friday 24 January 2025.
Please contact the GPC office at info.lmcconference@bma.org.uk with any queries.
The National Insurance Contributions (NICs) Bill
Following its passage through the Commons, the National Insurance Contributions Bill moved to the House of Lords where it was debated on 6 January. During the debate a motion of regret was tabled, which if agreed would signal the House disagreed with the Bill but would not stop its progress. In the event the motion was not agreed. However, there was significant debate with the BMA mentioned numerous times along with our concerns regarding the impacts of employer NICs increases on practices and patients. We have undertaken extensive lobbying and briefing of Parliamentarians prior to the debate. The Bill will next go to committee stage in the Lords, where the BMA will continue to lobby.
BMA Guidance on physician associates
In response to member queries regarding the future management of physician associates (PAs) within their practices, please note the additional guidance below:
GP practices are entitled to follow BMA Guidance and RCGP guidance on employing PAs. However, it is for individual practices to decide whether to follow the guidance, and if they do decide to follow it, what steps to take to implement any changes.
A GP practice may decide to restructure how they deliver their services in order to follow the guidance. If such a restructure results in duties being removed from one or more PA in the practice, this could result in a redundancy situation arising, i.e. where there is a reduced requirement for physician associates to carry out work of a particular kind.
As a GP partner, and BMA member, if redundancy is an option your practice is considering, or you have questions regarding how to manage the employment relationship with your physician associate, please contact the BMA Employer Advisory Service at the earliest opportunity.
GPC England Regional Elections – coming soon
GPs Committee England will soon be seeking nominations for voting members of the committee for the 2024-2027 sessions, we will be election one representative from the following regions:
Please look out for an email to BMA members coming soon. For more information about BMA elections
Virtual rally on sessional GP unemployment
Join us as we unite to tackle the pressing issue of sessional GP unemployment on Wednesday 12 February, 7.30-9pm.This is your chance to be part of the conversation, share your voice, and mobilise for change. During the rally, you’ll learn about the latest insights on the issues, what the BMA has been doing, updates on GP collective action in England, ways to get involved with your LMC to drive change, and more. Speakers include BMA Chair of the Sessional GPs committee, Chair of GPC England, Co-chairs of the GP registrars committee, and a RCGP representative.
Let’s raise our collective voice and demand progress. Together, we’ll ensure the challenges faced by sessional GPs remain a priority. Gain valuable insights, actionable steps, and learn how the BMA is standing with you. Register here
BMA and PCSE webinars for 2023-24 type 2 pension forms for sessional GPs
We previously highlighted the change of form and upload process for type 2 pension forms for 2023-24. As a salaried GP, out of hours GP or long-term locum within a practice, you are required to complete a Type 2 Self-Assessment for each pension year, so that NHS England can ensure that all NHS pension contributions have been correctly paid and allocated correctly to the NHS Pension Scheme record.
The relevant forms must be completed by members who have undertaken practitioner pensionable work between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024, and should be submitted to PCSE by 28 February 2025. PCSE have scheduled two webinars to explain the new form and the process to upload the forms. The deputy chair of the BMA pensions committee, Krishan Aggarwal, will also be attending the webinars to support member queries. These will be held on:
Please click here to register for the webinars.
The BMA is here to support you and you can find more details about these changes on our webpage >
RCGP clarifies new exam attempts policy
In August 2024, the BMA won a ‘landmark’ legal judgement, supporting a trainee GP who believed they had been unfairly treated due to the way the RCGP applied its policy on the number of attempts at taking an exam. The judge found that it was irrational for the College to refuse to consider further attempts or nullification in the event that a candidate reports a late diagnosis that would have justified reasonable adjustments, quashing the policy both prospectively and retrospectively.
The RCGP has now confirmed their replacement policy, which applies to both the AKT and the SCA:
Where after an unsuccessful attempt a candidate receives a diagnosis of a disability of which they were previously unaware, the RCGP may void any previous attempts which they took while having that disability without the appropriate reasonable adjustments. The candidate would still have the same upper limit of maximum attempts as they were entitled to when they entered training for the first time. Applications for previous attempts to be voided are subject to all other applicable MRCGP Regulations and Policies, including rules on eligibility and timeframes.
The RCGP’s website includes FAQs on the new policy and registrars who believe they may be eligible for additional attempts should complete this form.
All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pharmacy - Call for written evidence on medicines shortages
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Pharmacy has launched an inquiry into the impact of medicines shortages, and a call for written evidence from key stakeholders across the healthcare sector.
We would encourage individual GPs to submit written evidence on the impact medicine shortages have on practices and patients (deadline 24 January) – submit your evidence here
GPCE Guidance, media and contacts
Read the latest GPCE bulletin: Investment in general practice | collective action tracker | special England LMC conference
Collective action
Thank you for taking part in our collective action to protect our patients and practices.
We have updated our collective action webpage explaining in more detail the nine actions that practices can choose to take. These actions will continue to make a difference: they are safe, sustainable, and do not breach your contract. If GPs collectively participate, this helps put pressure on the Government to do the right thing for patients and general practice.
Please also refer to other useful links such as:
Watch our video of colleagues explaining the importance of taking collective action: https://youtu.be/tH1FFyIfyBA
Make sure you are involved to protect your patients, your staff and your practice.
As the year comes to an end, we wanted to thank you all for your continued work in general practice and for your help and support in the work we do.
Please do keep in touch and best wishes for 2025.
December action tracker
The December collective action tracker survey will close at 5pm on Sunday 15 December.
Is your practice taking part in collective action? We want to hear from you! If you are a GP partner or a practice manager, please fill in this survey. Specific data will not be shared outside of the BMA and no identifiable data will be created as a result of this survey.
National Insurance contributions
The BMA briefed MPs ahead of the opposition day debate on the increase in employers’ national insurance (NI) contributions, and we were pleased to see several MPs raising the issue of the impact of the increase on GPs and their patients and urging government to take action.
This issue was also raised in Prime Ministers Questions, where Liberal Democrat MP, Martin Wrigley, highlighted that GPs in his constituency had contacted him with concerns and asked the PM to release this funding information. The PM stated that the Darzi report made clear that the NHS was broken by the last government, which is why they have committed £22 billion to the NHS in this year’s budget. He stated that his government value the vital work that GPs do, and every year they consult with the sector on the services they provide and the money they are entitled to in return.
To continue to keep this issue on the government’s agenda, if you have not done so please write to your local MP, using our online tool to tell them about the impact that ENICS increases will have on your practice and patients. Please also consider following up your email with an invitation for your local MP to visit your practice to hear from you directly. If you do have an MP visiting, contact us on publicaffairs@bma.org.uk, and we can offer any support needed.
Please continue to use the BMA online calculator to estimate the impact of the increases to employer NI contributions and the national minimum/living wage on general practice in England.
Data from our online calculator submissions so far indicates that the average additional cost pressure runs to around £33,000 for each practice. This means practices are at risk of closure or, as a minimum, reducing staff and services as a result, if these additional costs are not covered.
Calling all GPs: Join us at next year’s ARM in Liverpool
If you are interested in helping to set BMA policy, you can now nominate to be a representative for your local area at the annual representative meeting (ARM) 2025 (23-25 June).
The ARM decides the future of your union and professional association – from pay restoration and resourcing the NHS, clinical governance to the GMC, to electing your leadership. Over half of the seats to ARM are allocated to BMA divisions, with others allocated to BMA conferences. Elections are conducted via the BMA's online nomination and election system across all division areas in the UK. This means that all BMA members can nominate and vote in their division elections. Find out more.
Please visit our elections portal to nominate yourself (Nominations will close at 12pm on Tuesday 14 January 2025.)
If you have any questions, please contact elections@bma.org.uk
Joint statement on Government pay uplift for 2024/25
We recognise decisions on pay awards for practice staff are determined by individual employers, however, nursing staff working in general practice should be provided with a fair pay settlement that recognises their essential nursing role in the holistic delivery of general practice services.
GPCE and RCN are committed to calling for a fairer funding model general practice nursing staff, and remain committed to finding solutions to achieve this and secure the long-term sustainability of general practice in England. Read the full statement here
Government’s suggested 2.8% pay uplift for doctors for 2025-26
This week, the Government recommended that the pay uplift for next year for doctors and other NHS workers should be 2.8%. In response to this, the BMA's chair of council, Philip Banfield, said:
"For this Government to give evidence to DDRB believing a 2.8% pay rise is enough, indicates a poor grasp of the unresolved issues from two years of industrial action. It is far below the current rate of inflation experienced by doctors in their daily lives and does not move significantly closer to restoring the relative value of doctors’ pay lost over the past 15 years.” Read the full BMA statement
Changes to the GP pension type 1 and 2 forms for the year 2023-24
You should have received an email from NHS England detailing how you must submit your type 1 or type 2 form for the year ending 31 March 2024 to PCSE. Previously you could submit your forms either through your PCSE online account or the 'Contact us' section on the PCSE website. Instead, you or your accountant, will now need to submit the form via the ‘Contact us’ section on the PCSE website. This will not impact your pension record, just how you submit your forms.
All of the necessary forms, including the Type 1 form for GP partners, and guidance are linked on our webpage. The forms must be completed by those who have undertaken practitioner pensionable work between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024, and should be submitted by 28 February 2025.
What does the future hold for GP premises?
Listen to the GP online podcast with Dr Gaurav Gupta, GPC England lead for premises, who talks about the terrible state of GP premises in England. He explains what the new premises cost directions could mean for practices, the problems facing practices based in NHS Property Services buildings and why GP premises ownership should still have an important role in future plans for the primary care estate.
LMC England Conference 2024 update and resolutions
Chaired by Waltham Forest LMC’s Dr Elliot Singer, your national representative conference of representatives of England LMCs was held on 22 November. The title “Truth and trust: valuing family doctors” framed the debates and discussions of the 300+ LMC representatives present. Read the resolutions and election results and watch the recording of the event here.
Updated GP training guide
After a year of negotiation with COGPED (Committee of GP Education Directors), the GP Registrars committee has launched an updated guide for GP registrar sessions, bringing practical improvements to training. It supports flexible working patterns, allowing registrars to follow either session or hour-based schedules as per their contract. Appointment times are now adjustable based on training stage and consultation complexity, with a goal of reaching 15-minute face-to-face consultations by the end of training. The guide promotes both flexibility and tailored support, reflecting the evolving needs of GP registrars. For full details, read the document on the BMA website.
BMA’s Change NHS / 10 Year Health Plan consultation response
The BMA has submitted its organisational response to the Change NHS consultation, to help influence the UK Government’s 10 Year Health Plan. The BMA’s response centres on the need for the plan to ensure that doctors are better valued – financially, professionally, and culturally – and stresses the importance of increased support and investment for general practice.
Cameron Fund Christmas Appeal 2024
The Cameron Fund is the only medical benevolent fund that solely supports GPs and their dependants in times of financial need, whether through ill-health, disability, bereavement, relationship breakdown or loss of employment. Each year the Cameron Fund runs a Christmas Appeal to raise extra funds for their beneficiaries. If you would like to make a donation, please find further details here.
LMC Secretaries Conference 2025
The LMC secretaries conference is taking place on Friday 7 February 2025 at BMA House in London. To register to attend please use the online application form available here, each person attending the conference must register by completing a registration form regardless of how they are planning to attend i.e. first, second or observer, the closing date for registration is Friday 24 January 2025.
Please contact the GPC office at info.lmcconference@bma.org.uk with any queries.
UK LMC Conference - 8 and 9 May 2025 - Save the date
The UK LMC Conference 2025 will be held on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 May 2025 at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland. The Agenda Committee continues to work on the Reforms to Conference mandated, and aims to bring further updates and progress in 2025, including substantive changes to Standing Orders to ratify the changes necessary to make the UK Conference truly serve all four nations.
GPCE Guidance, media and contacts
Read the GPCE bulletin: Collective action | NI contributions: try our calculator | our pay uplift statement
Read the sessional GPs newsletter: GP unemployment | GPs in ARRS | earnings report | lifestyle medicine and menopause
Read the GP Registrars newsletter: Hello, from your GP registrar committee
National Insurance contributions
Last week, at the England national conference of LMCs, we debated the impact that the increase in employer National Insurance (NI) contributions have on GP practices and passed a motion demanding that the Health Secretary rectify the issue with funding to the core GP Contract.
The BMA continues to put pressure on the Government regarding our concerns and the Chair of GPC England, Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, referenced the response from the Secretary of State for Health in her speech to the Conference, where she said:
"Mr Streeting recognises that we as GPs are so clearly the beating heart of the NHS family. We now need him to follow through and treat us as such".
Please use the BMA online calculator to estimate the impact of the increases to employer National Insurance contributions and the national minimum/living wage on general practice in England.
Data from our online calculator submissions so far indicates that the average additional cost pressure runs to around £35,000 for each practice. This means practices are at risk of closure or, as a minimum, reducing staff and services as a result.
Help us to continue to put pressure on the Government by writing to your local MP and inviting them to your practices using our online tool >
The recent announcement about the NI increase has hugely affected the morale of the profession. Listen to Dr Adam Janjua explain why it is necessary for general practice to come together and take collective action as “enough is enough”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBon3HpazRI
Collective action
Thank you to all those taking part in our collective action to protect our patients and practices. These nine actions will continue to make a difference: they are safe, sustainable, and do not breach your contract. For all General Practitioners to collectively participate continues to put pressure on the Government to do the right thing for patients and general practice.
At the Conference of LMCs in England last week, the GPC England Chair, Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer explained why collective action is needed NOW, as grassroots GPs are telling us that "this is going to break us". Watch the speech: GPs are having to take collective action
Make sure you are involved to protect your practice, your staff and your patients.
‘Protect your Patients and Protect your Practice‘ campaign
The BMA’s ‘Protect your Patients and Protect your Practice‘ campaign webpage has information about all of the actions. Please also refer to other useful links such as:
Campaign materials such as patient leaflets, lanyards, badges, window stickers and Beanie hats continue to be available from the BMA rep Hub.
We will be producing more guidance around individual collective actions to support those practices in undertaking specific actions.
We want GPs to feel safe and empowered to take action to protect their patients and their practices.
BMA GP opinion survey 2024 – Have you had your say yet?
The BMA GP Opinion Survey is still open. This annual survey gathers GPs’ views on current issues facing General Practice and is helping to influence and inform this year’s contract negotiations, inn addition to our longer-term strategy of promoting and protecting the future of General Practice.
It is open to GPs in England working in all settings and practices, including partners, salaried GPs, locums, and GP registrars at ST3 and above.
Participants do not need to be a member of the BMA to participate but we will need a GMC number to ensure that responses are coming from eligible GPs based in England. All responses will be anonymised.
Take the survey here: https://www.research.net/r/FP9JLQJ
Data (Use and Access) Bill
Changes to UK data protection law have been proposed in the government’s new Data (Use and Access) Bill which had its second reading in the House of Lords in November. Our briefing highlighted concerns about the potential impact on health data should there be a departure from existing high standards of data protection. The BMA is particularly concerned about the erosion of transparency standards when data is processed for research purposes and the threat to the regulatory independence of the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The bill also addresses the technical deficit in the NHS that limits data sharing and sets out measures to address this. IT system suppliers will be forced to develop software for sale in the NHS in line with technical standards – which we have long called for, and our report on IT was acknowledged as a factor favouring the inclusion of this measure.
Government review of Physician Associates
The Government has launched an independent review of physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs). In response to this, the BMA Chair of Council, Dr Phil Banfield, welcomed that the Government has acknowledged the concerns of doctors and accepted there is a safety issue with the employment of physician associates. He said:
“So we need to know what immediate safety measures NHSE will put in place, how quickly they will pause their PA expansion plans, and in the meantime if they will adopt the BMA’s own guidelines to start protecting patients now.” Read the full statement here.
Read the BMA guidance: PAs in general practice: making it safe for patients and GPs
Flu vaccination survey
The NHS England vaccination strategy, launched in December 2023, contained a proposal for NHSE to explore the impact of a move to the centralised provision of flu vaccines. As part of that exercise, NHSE has launched a survey of general practice and pharmacy providers to gather their views on both the current model of procurement, and the potential benefits and challenges of a centralised procurement model. Any such change will not be implemented for the 2025/26 season flu programme.
The outcome of the survey will inform any future discussion on potential changes of the procurement model that NHSE will have with GPC England. As such we would encourage as many practices as possible to make their views known. Take the survey here
GP pressures: latest workforce and appointment data
GPs continue to treat many more patients than they have done in the past. The latest data shows a record 63.66 million patients registered with practices in England, while there are over 1,300 fewer fully qualified full time GPs compared to 2015.
As a result, each full-time equivalent GP is now responsible for an average of 2,271 patients, an increase of 333 patients per GP (or 17%) since 2015, and appointments level at an average of almost 1.5 million per working day. Since September 2015, there has also been a decrease of 1,387 GP practices.
This fall in both GP numbers and practices coincides with a rise in patient numbers, which is putting staff at GP surgeries under immense strain, with knock-on effects for patient care.
Learn more about the pressures on general practice by visiting our website
Do you look after asylum seekers or refugees?
It is well-evidenced that this group of patients continue to face significant barriers accessing appropriate and timely healthcare. We’ve launched a survey to capture your experiences, so the BMA can update its Refugee and Asylum Patient Health Toolkit and influence government policy to better support you in enhancing healthcare services for asylum seekers and refugees. Share your views and complete this ten-minute survey by 14 December 2024.
Conference of England LMCs 2023
Thank you to those who attended the Conference of England LMCs. We would appreciate your feedback to help us improve future events. Please use this form to send us your feedback.
Conference News with the resolutions from Conference will be published some time next week.
LMC Secretaries Conference 2025
The LMC secretaries conference is taking place on Friday 7 February 2025 at BMA House in London. To register to attend please use the online application form available here, each person attending the conference must register by completing a registration form regardless of how they are planning to attend i.e. first, second or observer, the closing date for registration is Friday 24 January 2025.
Please contact the GPC office at info.lmcconference@bma.org.uk with any queries.
Read more about the work of GPC England and practical guidance for GP practices.
See the latest update on X @BMA_GP / X and read about BMA in the media.
Read the latest GPCE bulletin:
National Insurance contributions | GP collective action | take our annual survey
Dear colleagues
The Budget NI Blow
BMA UK Council met on Wednesday and emergency business included the Chair of Council, Professor Phil Banfield committing total support to our branch of practice, echoed in a formal statement subsequently shared across social media. Yesterday, GPC England met where we discussed the implications of the cost pressures, strategy for discussions with the heart of Government ahead of the national conference of LMCs next Friday 22 November, and first-hand experience of the personal impact on GP elected members.
Early data from our BMA online calculator confidential submissions suggests cost pressures potentially running into the hundreds of thousands of pounds for GP contractors – whose practices may have to close or reduce staff and services as a result. The BMA is putting pressure on the Government to guarantee these cost pressures be fully resourced, and has launched a calculator to estimate the impact on your practice. Please sit down and login with your practice manager and click submit to share your figures anonymously to help us build a picture of the reality facing practices.
We have created a calculator to help you estimate the impact from April 2025 of these increases to employer National Insurance contributions and the national minimum/living wage on general practice in England.
As well as ongoing discussions with the DHSC, we wrote to the Treasury in the immediate aftermath of the Autumn Statement and there have been ongoing questions put in the House of Commons, supported by BMA members using the MP letter tool to keep the pressure up on this evolving crisis.
Help us to continue to put pressure on the Government by writing to your local MP using our online tool
I spoke to the Medics’ Money podcast about pressures facing GPs and why the Budget was so devastating for the profession. The podcast covers:
Read more here: www.bma.org.uk/BudgetNIblow
Collective action
Thank you to every practice now taking part in our collective action to protect our patients and practices. These actionshave already, and will continue to make a difference: they are safe, sustainable, and do not breach your contract. This is turning up the pressure on the Government to do the right thing for patients and general practice. We are the bedrock of the NHS, but our services have been driven to near collapse.
We need you to take action to protect our patients and protect our practices.
We are producing more guidance around individual collective actions to support those practices in undertaking specific actions. This week we are focusing on Advice and Guidance.
Watch our collective action video on advice and guidance
This two-minute video shows GPC England’s views on this specific collective action. Dr Clare Bannon discusses how advice and guidance has been used when a referral would have been appropriate and that this has increased both work and risk for GPs. Using advice and guidance is not a contractual obligation, so as part of collective action, her practice is pushing back making it clear in referral letters that a patient should be provided with a consultation.
The BMA’s GP campaign webpage has more information about all of the actions. Please also refer to our Safe Working Guidance Handbook and other useful links such as the guidance for GP collective action for sessional GPs and GP registrars, background to the 2024/25 contract changes, waiting room/website videos and infographics that can be downloaded and displayed in practices. Campaign materials such as patient leaflets, lanyards, badges, window stickers and Beanie hats continue to be available from the BMA rep Hub.
We want GPs to feel safe and empowered to take action that protects their patients and their practices.
November action tracker
The November collective action tracker survey opened on Monday 11 November and will close at 5pm on Sunday 17November. Is your practice taking part in collective action? We want to hear from you! If you are a GP partner or a practice manager, please fill in this survey. Specific data will not be shared outside of the BMA and no identifiable data will be created as a result of this survey.
The BMA is producing more guidance around individual collective actions to support those practices in undertaking specific actions. Please refer to our refreshed Safe Working Guidance Handbook and to the BMA’s GP campaign webpage for more information. We appreciate your participation in collective action.
Data access and usage bill
A government bill presented to parliament is having its first debate on 19 November in the House of Lords – the legislation proposes measures to replace the ICO and amend the existing regulatory framework in several significant ways. It also includes provisions that will directly impact the NHS and primary and care including the establishment of a new regulatory framework to mandate NHS IT System suppliers to develop software that they sell to the NHS in line with technical information standards set by the NHS – something the BMA has long-called for, a fact that the government has acknowledged in the bill’s impact assessment. The BMA has briefed members of the House of Lords on the issues above as well as restating the case for adequate resourcing of data access requests made to GPs on behalf of patients.
GPC England Chair Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer has co-authored an editorial in this week’s BMJ alongside Jess Morley and Cori Crider calling for transparency around digital transformation: https://www.bmj.com/content/387/bmj.q2494
NHS England 10 Year Health Plan
DHSC and NHS England have launched a consultation – Change NHS – to help inform the development of a new 10 Year Health Plan. The consultation is looking for ideas on how the NHS can improve, as well as views on these three proposed ‘shifts’; moving more care from hospitals into the community; going from analogue to digital; and moving toward prevention and away from sickness.
The BMA is developing its response to the consultation, but individual GPs and practice managers can also respond to a separate survey on the Change NHS website: https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/
Focus on DDRB pay award
As part of our Guidance on the imposed 2024/25 GP contract, we have also published a Focus on document on the 6% DDRB pay award and how it is applied to the national practice contract baseline funding (‘Global Sum’) and allocated to practices.
General Practice Annual Electronic Self-Declaration (eDEC)
The electronic practice self-declaration (eDEC) is a mandatory collection which all GP practices in England must complete every year. The revised version was published on 11 October – read more here.
LMC England Conference 2024
The Agenda for the 2024 LMC England Conference in Friends House, London which takes place on 22 November, has been published. For more information see here. Please send any queries to info.lmcconference@bma.org.uk
Bringing back the family doctor: a roundtable discussion event
GPC England and the BMA Patient Liaison Group are inviting leading patient organisations to attend a roundtable meeting at BMA House on 28 November to discuss the recently published 'Patients First’ vision for general practice. GPCE are keen that this discussion will open up further opportunities for joint working as well as develop understanding of the patient perspective in response to:
Do you look after asylum seekers or refugees?
It is well-evidenced that this group of patients continue to face significant barriers accessing appropriate and timely healthcare. We’ve launched a survey to capture your experiences, so the BMA can update its Refugee and Asylum Patient Health Toolkit and influence government policy to better support you in enhancing healthcare services for asylum seekers and refugees. Share your views and complete this ten-minute survey by 14 December 2024.
LMC Secretaries Conference - 7 February 2025
The LMC secretaries conference will be taking place on Friday 7 February at BMA House, London. If you are interested in attending please ensure you register to attend the event by Friday 24 January 2025.
Each person attending the conference must register by completing a registration form regardless of how they are planning to attend i.e. first, second or observer. An online application form for nominations is available here, and representatives will have to indicate if they are first or second place nominations on the online form. Places will be confirmed via email and the closing date is 24 January 2025.
Please contact the GPC office at info.lmcconference@bma.org.uk with any queries you have about the LMC Secretaries Conference or David Wood (david.wood@attend.org.uk), about travel and subsistence.
UK LMC Conference - 8 and 9 May 2025 - Save the date
The UK LMC Conference 2025 will be held on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 May 2025 in Glasgow, Scotland. The event will be taking place at the SEC Centre, Scottish Event Campus, Glasgow, G3 8YW.
The Agenda Committee continues to work on the Reforms to Conference mandated at Newport in 2024, and aims to bring further updates and progress in 2025, including substantive changes to Standing Orders to ratify the changes necessary to make the UK Conference truly serve all four nations.
GPC Guidance, media and contacts
Read the latest GPCE bulletin:
National Insurance contributions | collective action | data access and usage bill
BMA GP opinion survey 2024
The latest BMA GP Opinion Survey has opened, and we need to hear from all GPs across the country.
This annual survey gathers GPs’ views on current issues and opportunities facing General Practice, helping to influence and inform this year’s contract negotiations in addition to our longer-term strategy of promoting and protecting the future of General Practice.
The survey is open to all GPs in England, including partners, salarieds, locums, and GP registrars at ST3 and above. It is open to GPs working in all settings and practices, wider primary care roles, trusts, urgent care, and secure or out-of-hours settings.
Participants do not need to be a member of the BMA to participate but we will need a GMC number to ensure that responses are coming from eligible GPs based in England. All responses will be anonymised.
The survey will close on Monday, 11 November at 9am. We urge you to complete the survey as soon as possible, to ensure GPC England’s negotiating position is made as strong as possible.
Take the survey here: https://www.research.net/r/FP9JLQJ
Our vision for general practice
Last week we launched our vision for general practice Patients First: why general practice is broken and how we can fix it, presenting solutions for the new Government to work with us in rebuilding a transformed general practice for the benefit of our patients and communities, and improving the long-term health of the nation.
GPs need an extra 11p per day, that’s £40 per patient per year in 2025/26 to provide the patient care that is needed. This investment will help support safer, better continuity of care for our patients, recruiting more GPs and delivering more appointments.
We’ve shared Patients First: Why General Practice is broken and how we can fix it with the Secretary of State for Health, the Department for Health and NHS England. We look forward to working with them to bring about necessary changes, working to shape policies that will help fix the front door to the NHS and bring back the family doctor.
Safeguard general practice, and you safeguard the NHS.
Please share our vision with patients, friends and colleagues, while continuing to take collective action that will protect our patients and our practices.
Read our press statement
Collective action
Thank you to every practice now taking part in our collective action to protect our patients and practices. These actions have already, and will continue to make a difference: they are safe, sustainable, and do not breach your contract. Most importantly, these actions are turning up the pressure on the Government to do the right thing for patients and general practice. We are the bedrock of the NHS, but our services have been driven to near collapse.
We need you to take action to protect our patients and protect our practices.
Focus on action – serving notice on voluntary services
We are producing more guidance around individual collective actions to support those practices in undertaking specific actions. This week we are focusing on serving notice on voluntary services.
Watch our two minute collective action video on unfunded work which shows GPCE colleagues’ views on this specific collective action. We are asking you to consider serving notice on any voluntary services currently undertaken that plug local commissioning gaps and stop supporting the system at the expense of your patients, practice and staff. We recommend liaising with your LMC for advice around communications and notice periods required (if any), around the cessation of these services, or alternatively contacting info.gpc@bma.org.uk for further information and advice.
Our GP campaign page has more information about all of the actions. Please also refer to our Safe Working Guidance Handbook and other useful links such as guidance for GP collective action, background to the 24/25 contract changes, and infographics that can be displayed in practices.
If you wish to receive data about action taken by practices in your LMC area, please complete this form and we will contact you. Please note that the level of information we are able to provide will depend on the overall response rate in the area.
Please do not hesitate to contact Aarti Gokal, GP Campaign Coordinator (agokal@bma.org.uk) if you have questions regarding the survey.
Collective action tracker survey
The October action tracker survey was published on Monday 14 October and will close at 5pm on Sunday 20 October. Please share this link with your practice managers/GP partners and encourage them to fill in the survey. We need this data to monitor participation across the country. In turn, we can drive up our demand to Government for a new contract that is fit for purpose, with the investment and workforce needed to reset general practice and bring back the family doctor.
GP Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS)
The updated PCN DES bringing in the GP ARRS was released last week. GPs employed via the Scheme must be within 2 years of their CCT on 1/10/24 and PCNs will be required to provide terms no less favourable than the BMA salaried GP model contract, in line with the GMS/PMS contract.
GPC England and the Sessional GPs Committee have released guidance for PCNs, and individuals employed under this scheme. It can be found here.
Whilst there is progress in acknowledging the difficulties currently faced by many GPs struggling to find jobs, we continue to stress to NHSE and the Department of Health the underlying issue of GP unemployment and how this needs to be better addressed through additional support and funding at a practice level, reinforcing the need for a new GP contract to support this.
Read the blog by Dr Mark Steggles, Chair, Sessional GPs Committee
GPs vote in favour of phasing out physician associate role in general practice
Following the publication of the GPC England and RCGP guidance on the role of physician associates, the GPs Committee UK (GPC UK) met yesterday and discussed the role and safety of physician associates in general practice. The committee overwhelmingly voted in favour of the motion below:
This meeting believes that the role of physician associates in general practice is fundamentally unsafe and:
The BMA believes that those in existing physician associate roles should be given opportunities to retrain into more suitable NHS roles, including the appropriate undergraduate and postgraduate training in medicine.
The priority needs to be the recruitment and retention of more GPs into the workforce. We want to be able to give patients the care and services they need, when they need them, with the most appropriate clinician. The Government must urgently invest in practice staff such as GPs and general practice nurses.
Read the full press statement here
BMA legal action on MAPs
The BMA is to financially back a legal challenge against the GMC over its failure to distinguish between doctors and PAs (physician associates).
Campaign group Anaesthetists United has been joined by the parents of 30-year-old Emily Chesterton, who died after seeing a PA who she thought was a GP, in their legal action. Together, they allege that the GMC has not enforced a national scope of practice for MAPs (medical associate professionals) after they graduate, which they argue represents an unlawful failure in the GMC’s duty to properly regulate the clinical practice of these associate professions in the UK.
This follows legal proceedings started by the BMA against the GMC in June on the GMC’s decision to use Good Medical Practice for PAs and AAs rather than creating specific standards for those professions, and the GMC’s use of the term ‘medical professionals’ for PAs and AAs.
Use of patient data for research
Following the Health Secretary’s speech at the RCGP Conference, where it was stated that NHS England would take care of primary care data for research, where patients had consented for it to be used in studies, Dr David Wrigley (GPC England Deputy Chair and IT lead) commented:
“Research is fundamental to improving public health, and the BMA has been in conversation with NHS England, the Government, and relevant research organisations about how to safely make the data of those patients who have given explicit consent available for this use.
“We are pleased Government will thoroughly review the consent processes used by these research organisations and will take full responsibility for the safe and proper onward sharing of that data which originates from the GP record. We have made it clear that the agreement is strictly limited to circumstances where patients have given - and continue to give - their informed consent to the sharing of their medical record.
“Patient data is incredibly valuable, and we are pleased to see the Government has also committed to ensuring the highest security arrangements for its protection and appropriate use.”
GP contract changes and implementation
Here is a reminder of what has been uplifted from this month: Global sum has been uplifted to £112.50 per weighted patient for GP practices to implement the DDRB uplift. Locum reimbursement rates have increased, along with the pay elements of workforce-related transformational funding.
From 1 October, newly qualified GPs can be recruited as part of the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) and PCNs can request the funding as outlined in the updated PCN contract DES. In addition, three other PCN funding streams have been increased to reflect the DDRB uplift: core PCN support, the care home premium service and the enhanced access service. The maximum reimbursement rates for existing ARRS staff have been uplifted with effect from 1 October to align with Agenda for Change pay scale uplifts.
Medical Academic Staff committee (MASC) election for academic GP
The BMA’s Medical Academic Staff committee is currently seeking your nomination for the following position:
MASC represents all medically qualified teachers and research workers that hold contracts of employment (including honorary contracts) with a university, a medical school, or other non-NHS institutions engaged in medical education and research. MASC advocates on behalf of academic medicine and works with employers to ensure that there are sufficient incentives to attract doctors to (and keep them in) academic medicine. Find more information about the work of the committee here.
Nominations closes at 12pm 24 October 2024, with voting taking place between 2pm on 24 October and 2pm on 31 October 2024. If you would like to nominate yourself, please go to https://elections.bma.org.uk/
If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact elections@bma.org.uk.
Read more about the work of GPC England and practical guidance for GP practices.
See the latest update on X @BMA_GP and read about BMA in the media.
Contact us: info.GPC@bma.org.uk
Read the latest GPCE bulletin: GP opinion survey | Patients First: our vision | unfunded work | your practice’s action
Read the latest Sessional GPs newsletter
GP Action
The GPs Committee England met last week where we discussed the next steps of GP collective action as part of our ‘Protect your Patients and Protect your Practice‘ campaign and other upcoming issues affecting general practice.
We would encourage practices to continue to take action using our safe sustainable action menu. It is up to each practice to choose which actions to take, and whether to do one, or many. None of them represent a breach of your contract, but they will help you manage your workload and keep you and your patients safe. Your LMC will also provide you with additional advice, tailored to local arrangements.
Our GP practice survival toolkit provides for a menu of actions you can choose from, to support a safer delivery of services for patients and practice team:
We are urging the Government to engage constructively with us as soon as possible to determine short, medium, and long-term solutions to save General Practice.
Find out more here
Watch GPs talking about the actions they're taking >
GP Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS)
The updated PCN DES bringing in the GP ARRS was released last week. Pay for these roles will be set at the lowest level of the DDRB recommended sessional pay range, with PCNs able to claim up to £92,462 (including on costs), together with London weighting if applicable. The funding available to PCNs to fund these roles will be £1,303 multiplied by the PCN Contractor Weighted Population on 1 January 2024. The GP in ARRS allocation is separate to the pre-existing ARRS allocation, and PCNs cannot cross-subsidise between the two funding streams
GPs employed via the Scheme must be within 2 years of their CCT on 1/10/24 and PCNs will be required to provide terms no less favourable than the BMA salaried GP model contract, in line with the GMS/PMS contract. There are, however, no requirements on how these GPs should be utilised within the PCN. GPC England and the Sessional GPs Committee will be releasing guidance for PCNs, and individuals employed under this scheme, shortly.
Whilst there is progress in acknowledging the difficulties currently faced by many GPs struggling to find jobs, we continue to stress to NHSE and the DHSC the underlying issue of GP unemployment and how this needs to be better addressed through additional support and funding at a practice level.
Safe working guidance
Last month we published a safe working guidance handbook safe working guidance handbookto help GPs and practices in the delivery of safe, high-quality care for their patients and communities. The profession wants to provide care without risk to patients or ourselves. The handbook embeds and prioritises safe high-quality care for your patients by focusing on the delivery of prioritised core GP services. These actions will work, and will build growing leverage in the months ahead to support us in negotiations for you and your practice team.
Read more on Safe working, including social media graphics and a poster.
Shortages of doctors and patient increase – BBC analysis
A BBC analysis of NHS data has shown that the average GP in England has to care for 17% more patients than nine years ago. The areas struggling the most have more than 3,000 patients, nearly double those with the most doctors.The government said it was developing plans to train more doctors and relieve some of the pressure by giving pharmacists more responsibilities.
The GPCE Chair, Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer said these figures lay bare the realities of the workforce crisis in general practice and demonstrate how practices have been expected to keep doing more for less. This has led to the closure of 2,000 GP practices since 2010. General practice is collapsing. Rather than giving pharmacists more responsibility, patients want more GPs and we agree with them.
Labour party conference update
Last week GPCE Officers attended the Labour Party Conference. The NHS, and particularly general practice, was a key conference topic, alongside the Darzi Review and the NHS ten-year plan, anticipated for release next spring. Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer and Dr Samira Anane met with a number of MPs including Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock, PPS to Wes Streeting, Mr Zubir Ahmed, Dr Simon Opher, Dr Beccy Cooper, Leigh Ingham, Nesil Caliskan and Josh Dean. Dr Bramall-Stainer also spoke at the BMA’s roundtable attended by a number of MPs. During these meetings GPCE outlined our upcoming strategy for the new Government; our priorities and our recommendations to urgently address the crisis in general practice and GP unemployment.
GP pressures: latest workforce and appointment data
GPs continue to treat many more patients than they have done in the past. The latest data shows a record 63.47 million patients registered with practices in England, while there are over 1,000 fewer GPs compared to 2015.
As a result, each full-time equivalent GP is now responsible for an average of 2,282 patients, 345 (or 18%) more than in 2015, and appointments level at an average of almost 1.5 million per day. All of this puts staff at your GP surgery under immense strain, with knock-on effects for patients.
Learn more about the pressures on general practice
RCGP changes position on physician associates
At its September UK Council meeting, the RCGP voted to oppose a role for physician associates in general practice, with 61% of members voting for the change of position. However, the college will still be pushing ahead with planned guidance development given the pe-existing presence of PAs in general practice. The RCGP also voted to expunge a paragraph from their draft scope of practice guidance which would have exempted PAs already working in general practice from the scope limits. The college now plan further work on this guidance before publication.
GPC UK recently published the guidance Physician associates in general practice: making it safe for patients and GPs and will be discussing the RCGP’s change in position at its next meeting on 17 October.
New dispensing feescales
The new dispensing feescales for England and Wales, effective from 1st October 2024, have been published, showing a reduction in the average dispensing fee to 218.7p per item (average), a decrease of 0.2p compared with April 2024. This reduction is based on a new methodology designed to further smooth out the fluctuations seen in the previous biannual fee adjustments.
Dispensing fees are intended to cover the costs of running a dispensary, including staff expenses. However, from April 2025, the average fee is set to reduce further by 5.37p per item (on average) to 213.3p (compared to the October 2024 rate). This continued downward trend may prove to be a tipping point for some dispensing practices, as the cumulative impact of underfunding in rural practices takes its toll. GPC England continues to work closely with the Dispensing Doctors Association; both organisations recognise and promote the value of dispensing practices to their patients and within their communities.
LMC Secretaries Conference 2025 – Save the date
The LMC Secretaries Conference will be taking place on Friday 7 February 2025, in London, BMA House. Registration details will be sent out in coming weeks. If you require any further assistance, please contact us through info.lmcconference@bma.org.uk
Read the latest bulletin: Take action to save general practice | GP ARRS update | safe working guidance
