BMA’s England GP Committee could lose its funding grant in favour of ‘plan B’ alternative

Exclusive The GP Defence Fund (GPDF) will vote on stopping funding for the BMA’s GP Committee England, redirecting money towards ‘the development of a plan B’ for practices ‘outside the NHS’, Pulse can reveal.

At an extraordinary meeting on 9 June, the GPDF will vote on resolutions to cease funding the committee beyond December, and whether to divert the funds to an ‘LMC directed’ organisation which would ‘ensure the survival of the independent contractor model’ (see box).

According to a briefing paper, shared ahead of the meeting and seen by Pulse, the vote has been triggered following concerns that the GPC doesn’t appropriately represent the interests of GP partners.

The majority of the funds secured by the GPDF are spent on the Deed of Grant, which funds the GPC and BMA costs to support the committee.

The GPC announced last week it will ballot GPs in England on a ‘plan B’, or an ‘alternative strategy’ for general practice that would allow GPs ‘greater freedom to provide private services to their patients’.

Pulse revealed that earlier this year a large group of LMCs had written to the GPDF to urge it to stop funding the committee, following complaints that ‘successive contract negotiations’ resulted in ‘worsening financial and working conditions’, placing contractors ‘at risk of financial ruin’ and subjecting sessional GPs to unemployment.

One of the signatories of the letter – Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire (BBO) LMCs – already decided in February to withhold voluntary contributions used to fund the BMA’s GP committee, citing ‘value for money’ concerns.

The briefing paper said that the current representative framework managed by the BMA is ‘no longer fit to support the economic and operational realities’ of general practice.

It said that ‘structural inefficiencies’ within the BMA have ‘severely compromised’ recent national contract negotiations, resulting in terms that ‘undermine the sustainability of local practices’.

However, it said that the call for structural reform is directed ‘solely at BMA corporate structures’, not at GPC England or any individual representatives. GPCE will continue to exist, regardless of whether the Deed of Grant is maintained or removed, it added.

The document said: ‘This status quo is untenable, creating a high risk that LMCs will withhold the increase or the financial levies entirely.

‘To safeguard the future of general practice, immediate structural reform is required. This reform is strictly institutional and completely separate from any past or current committee members.’

It added that around £1.6m is paid to BMA as part of the Deed of Grant annually, and argued that the union fails to ‘understand the commercial realities of running an independent practice’, leading to a ‘continuous institutional push toward converting general practice into a fully salaried workforce’.

It added: ‘Partners pay three times the levy amount compared to resident doctors and consultants, yet they receive an inferior tier of service and representation.

‘This system forces GPs into a triple-funding model, where they must simultaneously finance standard BMA subscriptions, voluntary GPDF levies, and local LMC structures just to sustain basic trade union activity.

‘The BMA has ceased to operate as an effective, transparent, or accountable negotiating body for the GP profession.

‘General practice urgently requires a distinct, dedicated organization that fundamentally understands the business mechanics of the independent contractor model to negotiate sustainable terms and commercial contracts for practices.’

Pulse has contacted the BMA for comment.