NHS England will increase funding for general practice by 2.23% as part of what it calls ‘final arrangements’ for the 2024/25 GP contract.
The BMA will ballot the profession on the contract – which has not been agreed – in a referendum to take place from 7 to 27 March, which was postponed from the second week of February due to the GP Committee pushing for a better deal.
But the NHS says that it will ‘now begin the process of implementing the 2024/25 contract changes with detailed guidance and further information to be published in the coming weeks’.
The total funding for general practice is increased by £259m, up to £11,864m. This represents a 2.3% increase – 0.4 percentage points up on the offer earlier this year, which was strongly rejected by the GPC and the wider profession.
The contract announcement also includes income protection for 32 out of the 76 QOF indicators, as well as changes to the Investment and Impact Fund and Capacity and Access Payment (CAP).
The Weight Management Enhanced Service will also continue in 2024/25. Practices will receive £11.50 per referral with total funding of £7.2m for the Enhanced Service.
GPC chair Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer said last night that the Government had 48 hours to heed this warning to avoid ‘regrettable’ events – likely meaning a move towards industrial action.
Previously Dr Bramall-Stainer told Pulse that the outcomes of the referendum ‘may lead’ to the GPC considering an indicative strike ballot for GPs in the spring and a formal ballot after April, and that the process could go into later this year, around the time of the general election.
According to a letter seen by Pulse, the GPC is preparing for industrial action, with the union considering discounted membership in preparation for industrial action, while the GPC will ‘provide detailed guidance’ on how independent contractors can strike.
I am so happy. Looking forward to working very hard now for this extremely generous paylift. Thanks to our leaders and negotiators. Well done. pat on the back.
It’s a IA than
This is worse than even expected. Its clear that Government thinks we will not resist this and take it as we always have been.
Let us all get united and support BMA/GPC by giving them mandate to fight. They cant fight for us with their hands tied or they feel profession will not support them whole heartedly.
This is our chance to SAY NO, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH , YOU HAVE HAD OUR GOODWILL FOR ALL THESE YEARS BUT CLAPS DONT PAY OFR OUR STAF SALARIES . WE WILL WORK OT RULE , NO UNFUNDED WORK WILL BE UNDERTAKEN .
LETS PREPARE PLAN B AND SHOW TO GOVERNMENT THAT WE ARE READY TO HAND BACK CONTRACT AND WILLING TO PROVIDE OUR SERVICES PRIVATELY .
Lets understand one think they need GP more than we need them. We do 90 % of work in primary care. No organisation will be able to do the work we do in so little money we get paid.
It’s not even April 1st
For 30 years I have always said I would never take industrial action because it’s always only the patients who suffer. However, we gave our salaried staff a 6% pay rise this year essentially because the junior doctors took action so clearly that is the only way to get the Government to take notice. I never thought it would come to this but I feel that they have left us with little alternative.
Clearly undervalued and not respected. Time for politicians of all political colours to declare -and act appropriately- as to whether they want General Practice to exist any more. Please encourage colleagues to join BMA even for a month or two so they can take part in ballot etc.
Why waste money on the BMA what have they done for us in the last decade or so.Roll on April my own personal industrial action starts.
I’m assuming a discounted membership means a lot of us have decided the same why waste money.
How will they pay poor partners who were clapping for ARRS? They have spent a 1.4 billion pounds on free ARRS for surgeries and reduced the appointment by spending some on pharmacists first. Obviously ARRS funding will quietly taper off in future for those who still believe . The format will have breaking partnerships and getting private operators running on Supervising GPs.
I have no doubt the Tories are trying to provoke us into IA. Look how well the Juniors are doing with that….the intention is to dispense with GPs from Primary Care. IA will turn public sympathy against us and then we can be eased out of the picture. Lambs to the slaughter..
Agree with much of the above. GPing as we knew it is going to be steadily eased out and future NHS Primary Care (note the change in term now being used) will involve very few medically qualified doctors. BMA/GPC needs to stop wasting time behaving like dinosaurs moaning their extinction and focus on how they can support those that want to provide high quality continuity of care outside of the NHS. Afraid for those that want to practice actual medicine time has come to take the risk setting up independent non-NHS GP services (ie old fashioned General Practices) – never know if successful might get bought out with the big bucks!
Hobson’s choice – 2% or imposition.
The Govt’s intentionally pushing us into IA and we should see it as an opportunity and take it. Traditional GP may be at risk of extinction so this should be debated publicly and not just in GP mags/forums. If the partnership model is worth fighting for then this is the last chance saloon, or see it wither.
For those who want to go private, there’s nothing stopping them doing that. It’s always been possible for a GP to practice as a private GP, outside the NHS.
But for the whole of general practice to go private, that won’t happen. We’ve been there, done that, right up to 1948. You only have to read Dickens, Hardy or Mayhew’s London’s Poor to get an idea of what it was like for the masses in urban and rural areas when medical care had to be paid for.
I will send my patients to the hospital for care, because at this rate, it will be the only place to find a doctor.
The gpc are still negotiating the nhse. They were given 48 hours. Let us let the gpc negotiate on our behalf. The release of the contract was presumptuous.
I think let us give both sides the ability to resolve this as best they can.
Please could we replace the NHS with something that works better for patients and doctors?
Perhaps look at how the rest of the World does healthcare rather than assuming there is no alternative to the NHS?
Call me naive, but after working for the NHS for 40 years, I am still not persuaded by arguments for alternatives to the NHS. The NHS is a brilliant and just way of providing population health care. We pay for the NHS through taxation at source – just not enough. In any other model , people will be paying at least as much if not considerably more whether through a combination of taxation and insurance , or just the latter.
My prior comment was in response to the one by Dave Haddock, in case that’s unclear.
We (GPs) cannot replace the NHS within our lifetimes except on a small local scale. People will continue to use the NHS for most major / expensive needs. Many seem to be willing to pay for private care if it is more convenient, timely or not available via the NHS. There are ways the NHS can deter GPs from following the pathway of NHS dentists but eventually it may reach a tipping point so that NHS care is only used for CDM, proxy outpatients and a safety net for the uninsured / well off. As a system it won’t be better for patients or doctors.