BMA ends GP dispute with Scottish Government following funding offer

The BMA in Scotland has decided to end its dispute with the Government, after accepting an offer increasing general practice funding by £249m annually recurring by 2028/29.

The union’s GP committee has accepted the Scottish Government’s offer including an initial £98m for general practice in the next financial year.

The Government said that ‘subject to Parliament agreeing future budgets’ the funding will ‘help boost staff numbers and capacity’, support ‘day-to-day operations’ and ‘make it easier for people to access GP services’.

Subject to ‘future budget processes’, an initial investment of £98m will be made available in 2026/27, with £183m being invested in 2027/28 and £249m following in 2028/29.

The BMA said: ‘The terms of the deal mean that over the next three financial years, the Scottish Government has committed to invest directly in general practice with close to an additional £250m annually recurring by year three. The bulk of this, £148.3m, will be to stabilise and improve our workforce to cope with the huge pressures we all face.

‘There is also money to cover non-staff expenses, enhancements to the SFE to support locum cover, additional funding for quality, digital improvements and to address health inequalities.

‘As we have been clear throughout, this investment is not related to pay, it is about investing in general practice and bringing stability and security to the service we know has suffered significant losses and absorbed so much pressure in recent years.’

Health secretary Neil Gray said that the funding will help ‘shift the focus of care from acute to community’.

He added: ‘We remain focused on reducing waiting times and new figures show we are making progress – waits of more than a year have reduced for the fourth month in a row and the total waiting list size has also reduced.

‘This is not a pay deal — it’s about stabilising practices and getting more staff into general practice. GPs and practice staff received a £46m uplift for pay and expenses earlier this year, and practices are receiving an additional £15m in 2025-26 to support immediate recruitment needs.

‘I thank the BMA for their constructive discussions and look forward to working with the sector to ensure patients have the best possible care available, as close to home as possible.’

BMA Scotland GP committee chair Dr Iain Morrison said the new funding is ‘a significant step in the right direction’ and is ‘a vote of confidence’ in the long-term future of the independent contractor model of general practice.

He said: ‘For some time, we have been clear that the only way to put general practice in Scotland on a sustainable footing for the future and to improve access for patients was direct investment into practices to recruit and retain GPs.

‘Today’s announcement, secured after a robust but constructive set of negotiations is welcome recognition of that fact and reflects the level of funding needed to stabilise and rebuild general practice across Scotland in both urban and rural areas.

‘This investment should finally enable the profession to feel optimistic about the future and provides the opportunity to make working in general practice in Scotland the rewarding, safe and sustainable career it should be once again.’

The union’s Scottish GP committee began a ‘formal dispute’ with the Government in June, citing ‘years of disinvestment in general practice’. 

At the time, it said £290m of extra funding – around 1% of the NHS budget in Scotland – was required to deliver full funding restoration. 

Last week, Mr Gray told Pulse LIVE Glasgow that GPs taking industrial action was ‘not in anyone’s interest’.

Commenting on the decision from BMA Scotland to de-escalate the dispute, RCGP Scotland chair Dr Chris Provan said: ‘While RCGP Scotland does not take part in contractual negotiations between the BMA and the Scottish Government, we can see clearly the negative impact of underfunding on the care our patients receive and we welcome that there has been very significant progress in talks.

‘We understand that the offer of improvements to funding is not the end of this journey and we are pleased there is ongoing negotiation between the parties.

‘Ultimately this has the potential to return general practice in Scotland to a more sustainable footing. By enabling the recruitment of more GPs and easing the current unmanageable workload, we can improve patient care.’