GPC England has voted overwhelmingly to reject the Government’s unrealistic and unsafe plans to impose changes to GP practice contracts, calling for the Government to directly negotiate a new practice contract with GPC England as promised repeatedly (here and here) by Secretary of State, Wes Streeting.
GPC England chair Dr Katie Bramall said:
“The ‘open-floodgates’ strategy which has been drowning general practice since October is not going away – the Government is doubling down and turning general practice into a digital-first, patients-last, unsafe primary care model where the result is a far poorer patient experience.
General practice is critically endangered, facing extinction: patient list sizes compared with GP numbers are still dangerously high; continuity of patient care is rapidly declining; and we have lost over 6,000 (around 28%) of the GP who actually run practices since 2015. Government must work with us to bring general practice back from the brink of extinction; this contract will not do that.
No more empty words. No more broken promises. It’s time for action.
GPs are hardworking, dedicated professionals, but we are not magicians. We can’t bend the rules of physics and provide unlimited same day urgent care as well as unlimited planned and routine care, all whilst hospital trusts are enabled to try to reject our referrals leaving GPs to manage the impossible and unsafe. Premises are outdated and crumbling, demand is spiralling out of control without the workforce or resource to support it and, despite Government rhetoric, we are drowning in bureaucracy. GPs are in despair, uncertain how on earth they can achieve the Government’s unrealistic expectations and instead terrified experienced GPs will be at increasing risk of leaving the profession and yet more community practices will close down.
Unless we see the Government return to the negotiating table and enter into meaningful one-to-one negotiations with GPCE to restore the viability of partnerships and practices, deliver safe working practices for patients and fair remuneration for all GPs, the profession will be left with no alternative but to escalate to action to protect ourselves and our patients.”
From 4 March to 25 March, GPC England will hold a referendum of all GPs and GP Registrars across England on the imposed changes the Government will make to GP contracts from 1 April 2026. GPCE will ask its members if they accept the Government’s 26/27 changes, and their approach to making them, or if they want them to return to direct negotiations with BMA leaders to jointly develop a new practice contract, as repeatedly promised by Wes Streeting, that restores the viability of GP partnerships, provides fair remuneration of all GPs and implements workload safeguards to keep patients and practice staff safe.