DHSC to continue negotiations with BMA as GP collective action will have ‘no impact’

The Government remains in discussions with the BMA’s GP committee, as it said that collective action announced last week will have ‘no impact’.

The Department of Health and Social Care will ‘continue to engage’ with the GPC in the coming weeks to ‘resolve outstanding issues’ and to ‘avoid the need for any escalation’, after the committee voted to enter collective action against this year’s imposed contract.

DHSC said that the ‘only action’ that the BMA is taking as a result of the vote is a ‘data audit’ which will have ‘no impact on patient services’.

As part of collective action which started on Friday last week, GPs should notify their ICB that they are stopping voluntarily sharing data.

In an update to GPs Friday, GPC chair Dr Katie Bramall said that the GPC ‘will be seeking to continue negotiations with the Government in the weeks ahead’.

GPC England will meet on Thursday 21 May providing ‘an opportunity for the Government to heed our genuine concerns and safeguard practices going forward’, Dr Bramall added.

A DHSC spokesperson said: ‘There have been constructive talks with the BMA GPCE in recent weeks, and good progress has been made. As a result, the only action the BMA is taking is a data audit, which will help inform future discussions.   

‘It is important for patients to know that there will be no impact on patient services and that they should continue to contact their GP if they need to, as they normally would.

‘We will continue to engage with the BMA GPCE in the coming weeks to resolve outstanding issues and to avoid the need for any escalation.

‘GPs play a pivotal role in the NHS and we remain committed to working with the BMA to rebuild general practice and make it fit for the future, for the benefit of both GPs and patients.’

DHSC also said that it is good practice for GP practices to ensure that they are meeting their data requirements, especially regarding the protection of patient data.

It added that during the last action taken by the BMA GPCE collective action concerns there was no material impact either on primary or secondary care, pointing out that the number of GP appointments remained stable and there was no significant increase in demand for other services, including emergency, or NHS 111.

It comes after both NHS England and the health secretary had threatened not to go ahead with bilateral negotiations for a new GMS contract with the GPCE if it took collective action.

Pulse has asked DHSC to clarify if negotiations for the new GMS contract will continue.

Earlier this month, talks between GPCE and NHSE led to the commissioner backtracking on a target for one in four GP referrals being diverted through new advice and guidance requirements.