New GP contract to incentivise improved childhood vaccination rates

The next GP contract will provide ‘improvement incentives’ for GP practices making progress on vaccination rates, the Government has announced.

The Department of Health and Social Care said that the contract, due to be unveiled this week, includes ‘additional help for GPs’ to ‘save young lives and shield families from preventable illness’ by ‘strengthening vaccination delivery’.

A Government briefing note also said that GPs will be mandated to ‘provide the data to support the Lung Cancer Screening Programme’ to ensure every patient eligible is identified to receive an invite.

DHSC also said that QOF will be updated to include the delivery of the combined measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (MMRV) vaccine, to remove ‘unnecessary complexity’ for practices and ensures they are fairly rewarded as MMRV is rolled out.

PCNs will also be required to identify care home residents with overdue or outstanding routine vaccinations, the Government added.

And new £2m pilot will also see health visitors ‘reach families facing barriers to vaccines’, to ensure more children are protected. 

The Government said: ‘The move should help reduce outbreaks, such as the current one in Enfield, where dozens of unvaccinated children have contracted measles and in the worst cases find themselves in hospital fighting a serious but preventable disease.

‘Under the current system, only those GP practices hitting high vaccination rate targets earn additional incentive payments.

‘Practices in communities with lower vaccination rates – and who need the assistance most – are often missing out on earning these additional payments even when they are making massive strides and recording year-on-year improvements in vaccination rates.

‘The next GP contract will help change this by providing improvement incentives that recognise those practices making progress. These additional resources can then be used to reinvest in outreach and to follow‑up with families with unvaccinated children.’

According to DHSC, the contract will also allow for ‘greater flexibility in how practices collaborate to deliver flu and Covid-19 vaccines’.

The contract will also reflect the extension of the RSV vaccination programme to all adults aged 80 and over and all residents in care homes for older adults, in addition to existing cohorts, from April.

Health secretary Wes Streeting said: ‘Vaccinations are safe and they save lives. The return of diseases we thought we’d defeated, with children in hospital as a result, is entirely preventable.

‘With our investment and modernisation in general practice, GPs will be backed to protect children and prevent the risk of further outbreaks like we’ve seen Enfield. Every child deserves a healthy, happy start to life.’

On the announcement around the lung cancer programme, he added: ‘As a cancer survivor, I know first hand that an early diagnosis can be lifesaving.

‘Lung cancer kills more people in this country than any other cancer. But when we catch it early, patients’ chances of survival are so much higher. And the good news is we have all the information we need to catch cancer early at our fingertips.

‘Today’s changes mean every eligible patient can be invited for lung cancer screening  saving thousands of lives.’

Pulse has asked the DHSC for more detail on the contract updates, and BMA for comment.

The BMA’s GP Committee is holding an ’emergency meeting’ on the contract later this week, after having been only consulted on the 2026/27 updates, as opposed to the usual negotiation.

GPC England was consulted alongside the RCGP, NAPC, Healthwatch England, National Voices and the NHS Confederation.

Regarding the childhood vaccination update, NHS Confederation and NHS Providers director of the primary care network and neighbourhood lead Ruth Rankine said: ‘Primary care leaders welcome this announcement and see it as a fair and supportive approach for general practice, particularly for those working in communities with high levels of unmet need. Increasing childhood vaccination uptake can be challenging, especially in areas where coverage has fallen and the risk of outbreaks has risen, so additional support for practices to work with families will be vital in helping protect babies and children from serious, preventable diseases.

‘We are particularly supportive of recognising meaningful improvement rather than relying solely on absolute thresholds. This is a more realistic and constructive way to encourage progress, given the very real challenges many practices face, including workforce pressures and higher levels of vaccine hesitancy in some communities. Extending improvement-based incentives more widely would help ensure practices are supported to build trust with families and increase uptake over time.

‘General practice plays a crucial role in safeguarding children’s health and primary care leaders are committed to working with communities to reduce inequalities in vaccination coverage and protect more children from life-threatening illnesses.’

It comes after Pulse revealed last week that practices were considering stopping flu vaccinations due to viability concerns.

Read all of our coverage of the 2026/27 contract here.