England’s BMA GP Committee chair will not stand for re-election

BMA GP Committee England chair Dr Katie Bramall, whose three-year term in the post finishes this month, has announced she will not stand for re-election.

As nominations for candidates closed today at midday, Dr Bramall said she has decided not to stand again as chair, but noted she has a year left of her term as a committee member, and her term as chair of GPC UK does not end until October.

Making the announcement, she said that serving the profession for the past three years had been ‘a privilege’ but one that had come with sacrifices for her family, patients and local colleagues.

She said: ‘The past three years serving the profession have been an immense privilege. I’m enormously grateful for the support and kindness shown to me by so many colleagues throughout these times. However, it feels that the time is right for me to step down.’

‘My intention was always to serve a fixed three years and give it absolutely everything I’d got to secure a new contract and make an impact. Having a new Government, Secretary of State and Ministers is a great opportunity to handover to take the work forward and seal the deal,’ she added.

One day after the BMA announced the latest development in their progressive collective action, the GPCE chair also listed a number of achievements from her term.

‘It’s been an extraordinary period for the profession,’ she said.

‘Together, we’ve faced successive contract negotiations and governments; proved our detractors wrong with three powerful ballots; organised the first collective actions by GPs in decades; produced an enormous volume of practical guidance; developed a long-term vision for what general practice should become; and set out exactly what we need in a new contract, which Government has committed to deliver before the end of this Parliament.’

And she said that ‘as a profession’ GPs are ‘far more politically engaged than when I was elected’.

‘I’m proud to leave strong foundations in place for my successors.’

But the work, she said, had come ‘with a human cost’.

‘This job has been the privilege of my life, but it’s also been 24/7. I’ve tried to be as accessible as I can, transparent in publishing our negotiating principles, pushing video campaigns and surveys via WhatsApp etc.

‘Much less visible is the hard graft of organisational leadership behind the scenes. Like any large membership organisation, the BMA’s gone through much change, and sometimes leading effectively means navigating those internal as well as external challenges. That work is never easy, nor quick, and requires patience, attention to detail, and hard work. It is work that has taken time from my family and friends, whose patience in turn has been very gratefully received by me.

‘There is another big reason too: For three years I’ve been on loan from the GPs and practices of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough who’ve generously “lent” me to national negotiations as their LMC CEO, at a time when they too were facing exactly the same pressures as colleagues across the country. I’ve a deep loyalty to Cambs LMC’s team, board, committee, GPs and practices. LMC work is my passion, and I genuinely believe the big future solutions to NHS challenges will increasingly be local. I’m excited to play a full part in that again. I’ve tested Cambs LMC’s patience enough, and it’s time for me to repay that support!

‘But this isn’t me stepping away from national work. I’m on BMA Council, and I’ve a year left on GPC. But I’m now going to advocate for the profession nationally, on my own terms and in my own time. This is about seeing where I can make the most effective contribution, rather than leaving the field entirely.’

In an exclusive interview at Pulse LIVE Birmingham last month, Dr Bramall outlined what she wants from a new GMS contract, as well the strategy behind the ongoing collective action, and how the GPC is planning to take forward the profession’s explorations for a ‘plan B’ GP model.