Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland Local Medical Committee

GP Contract Documents

This section includes the relevant information relating to the key contracts relating to contracts and services delivered by LLR practices in 26/27. This is split into the following areas:

  1. National contract
    • 25/26 GMS contract
    • Statement of Financial Entitlements (SFE)
    • Advice & Guidance DES (added to 26/27 GMS contract)
    • Flu and COVID-19 Seasonal Vaccination Programme: Autumn/Winter 2025/26
  2. Local contracts
    • Community Based Service (CBS) 26/27
    • Community Based Services (CBS) 25/26
    • Minor Surgery DES
    • 48hr Wheezy Children Contract Variation (25/26 ceased for 2026 CBS)
  3. Primary Care Network DES

National Contract

NHS England » Changes to the GP Contract in 2026/27

General Medical Services Statement of Financial Entitlements Directions – GOV.UK

In the February 2026 newsletter, we included our first take on the contract imposition for 2026/27.

At the GPC England meeting on Thursday 26th February the proposed changes to the contract were scrutinised, debated and the offer from Government was voted on. Not unsurprisingly, the GPC overwhelmingly expressed their opposition to the changes. The GPC is opened a referendum of all GP BMA members regarding whether you accept or reject the contract proposals. Results concluded that 98.9% of 16, 764 members voted against the 2026/27 GMS contract imposition.

The LMC is not a trade union – this function is fulfilled by the British Medical Association. The LMC also has no direct affiliation to the BMA – we are an independent representative body. However, our assessment of the imposed changes is that they are bad for practices, bad for our patients, and bad for the health of the public. We encourage every BMA member to vote and express their views.

Please note:

  1. Details of the change to Advice and Guidance/Single Point of Access is included in section 5 below.
  2. Until your practice has been provided with the Contract Variation Notice (revised wording of the contract) and you have either signed it or 14 days have passed then you do not need to make any changes. In previous years the notice has not been sent out until June or even as late as October.

THE LMC ADVISES PRACTICES NOT TO SIGN THE CONTRACT VARIATION NOTICE WHEN IT ARRIVES THERE IS NO CONTRACTUAL REQUIREMENT TO SIGN AND IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE AS THE CHANGES ARE IMPLEMENTED AFTER 14 DAYS, BUT IT HIGHLIGHTS THAT YOU DO NOT CONDONE ANOTHER POORLY THOUGHT-OUT CONTRACT IMPOSITION.

Last year’s contract imposition had the effect of causing a 5% step wise increase in attendances in ED. The imposition for 2026/7 will require increased clinical triage but also coding of what requests are and are not clinically urgent. This will further reduce GP availability, reduce access for non-urgent patients, and further increase ED attendances.

The funding for additional GPs is not new money but is recycled. As most practice money is used for staffing the irony is that practices are likely to have to reduce other staff (including clinical) to be able to utilise the funding.

For comments or queries please email the LMC.

BACKGROUND & FORMER CONTRACT

GPC England has accepted new 2025/26 contract in principle, as long as further substantial national contract reform is also guaranteed

On Friday 28th February 2025, GPC England has confirmed that it has agreed in principle to accept the proposed amendments to the 2025/26 GMS contract, following two months of intense negotiations with the Government.   

At a GPCE meeting held yesterday, the committee agreed to accept proposed changes for 25/26 – including an overall funding uplift of £889 million – contingent on the Government committing to re-negotiating a new national contract within this Parliament. We have stipulated that this commitment must be confirmed in writing ahead of the Special LMC Conference on Wednesday, 19 March 2025.  

The changes for 2025/26 will provide a 7.2% cash growth in contract funding, including: 

  • Almost £800m national funding into the GMS Global Sum to help cover rising costs – including staff and premises expenses and patient list growth
  • A relaxation of rules around the PCN direct enhanced service so that constituent practices can choose which roles to employ from their additional role staff budgets, rather than having this centrally determined
  • A £2 increase in the Item of Service fee for routine childhood vaccinations
  • An additional £80 million investment – separate from the overall £889 million funding uplift – for a new Enhanced Service that compensates GPs for delivering Advice and Guidance request. 


We believe that these reforms represent an important first step on the journey towards rebuilding general practice after years of underfunding. 

Funding will remain allocated to PCNs for the ARRS, but the Government has agreed that GPs employed under the scheme will now be paid in line with the BMA’s recommended salary range. The Government will also remove the cap on the number of GPs that can be employed through the scheme, which they hope will go some way in reducing GP unemployment and accelerating workload growth. We have made it clear that this is an acceptable short-term fix, but we expect to discuss and agree a medium to long-term practice-level employment solution in the coming months. 

Among other changes is a DHSC assumption of funding to cover pay increases, subject to review following Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) recommendations. GPCE has submitted extensive evidence to the DDRB confirming that a significantly higher uplift than the DHSC assumption is required. 

Read the press release and statement from Katie: BMA accepts 2025/26 contract for GPs in England as a ‘starting point’ – BMA media centre – BMA 

Message from Dr Ingrams, LLR LMC Chief Executive on GP Contract Announcement 25/26

The BMA have released new guidance which can be found in the attachments below. When deciding how to implement the changes ensure that you prioritise patient and practice staff safety:

Additional documents:

Flu and COVID-19 Seasonal Vaccination Programme: 2026/2027

2026/27 COVID & Flu Vaccination Service – Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Local Medical Committee

Local GP contracts

PCN DES

Last Updated on 2 April 2026

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