GPs to be given say on their priorities for wholesale new GMS contract

The BMA will survey GPs this summer on their priorities for a new wholesale GMS contract, its GP committee chair has revealed.

Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer told LMC representatives at their national conference in Glasgow last week that the union is planning to ‘go out to the profession’ via a survey to gather views on what GPs want in a new contract.

The BMA is aiming to agree a totally new contract for general practice by the end of next year, which could include a ‘full reimbursement mechanism’ for salaried GPs, as per the old Red Book GMS contract.

The union’s agreement to the current 2025/26 contract was conditional on the Government’s commitment to negotiate a wholesale new GP contract within this Parliament. 

And in March, health secretary Wes Streeting provided his assurance to ‘secure a new substantive’ contract ‘without preconditions’ and ‘based on collaborative work’ with the profession. 

Dr Bramall-Stainer told the LMC conference that it is ‘imperative’ for negotiators to have data on GP opinion about the new contract.

She said: ‘Discussions have started around framing a new contract and scoping out the logistics. As officers, we’ve called for external, professional negotiating support, which is conference policy.

‘We’ve identified who we think will be an ideal third party to support us in that, and the BMA has agreed to the initial funding.

‘The plan is to go out to the profession, using an external polling professional survey company, to listen to the profession across England this summer regarding what the profession wants in a new contract.

‘We as officers might have an idea, the BMA GPC team may have an idea, but I think it’s imperative that we have accurate, comprehensive, contemporaneous data on substantive GP opinion.’

She told Pulse this was a ‘work in progress’ and Pulse understands that GPs can expect to know more about the survey in the next couple of months.

The GPC identified a ‘window to negotiate a new deal’ between July this year and June 2026, with a target date to agree the new GMS contract ‘by December 2026’.

The committee has previously cited April 2028 as ‘the latest’ for the new contract to be implemented, and Dr Bramall-Stainer clarified that ‘within this Parliament’ really means ‘before the end of 2028’, which is when the Government ‘will probably go back to the ballot box’.

Pulse has looked at what the new contract could look like, including a possibility for the outcome of the negotiations to be ‘subject to approval’ from the profession ‘via one or more referenda’ of BMA members.