Still time to avoid new trade dispute, says England’s GP leader

Exclusive The Government has an opportunity over the next few months to avoid a new dispute with GPs but it is going to be a ‘fragile’ time, the BMA’s GP Committee chair has told Pulse.

Speaking on the new episode of the Pulse in Focus podcast, Dr Katie Bramall said there are ‘opportunities to work together and be collaborative’ but that the ball is in ministers’ court to commit to the solutions required for general practice.

GPC England recently wrote to the Government with a list of demands that need to be met to avoid entering another dispute, including: moving ARRS reimbursements to practice level; commitments to increased funding for next year’s contract; a clearer timeframe for the GMS renegotiation; emergency funding to resolve GP unemployment; extending the state indemnity scheme to protect GPs amid wider patient record-sharing; and for the Government to explicitly back GPs to lead new neighbourhood teams.

Asked by Pulse what her ‘red lines’ are, Dr Bramall stressed all of the points, but said it would ‘ultimately’ be up to the GP committee to decide.

Should GPCE decide to re-enter a dispute with Government, Dr Bramall said it was not likely to look the same as last year’s collective action, which ended in March when ministers agreed to a wholesale renegotiation of the GMS contract within this Parliament.

‘I don’t think it would be the same as last year, because lots of things have changed and moved on. A lot of the items in the menu of collective action were based upon areas of dispute in the 24/25 contract, and many of them have been superseded by the 25/26 contract. We’re in a different space with a different government and different issues, so I think whatever we were to do would need to look different, and we would need to consult the profession accordingly.’

However, ideally it would not come to that, Dr Bramall stressed.

‘In terms of solutions and avoiding dispute, absolutely, I would much rather be building bridges and securing concessions for partners and practices across the country. It’s much easier, in many ways, to be at war. It’s far harder to be trying to achieve strategic wins and secure ambitious diplomacy and the concessions that the profession require and creative policy. That’s harder. That’s a more of an intellectual challenge.’

In an apparent bid to avoid dispute, health secretary Wes Streeting wrote to the profession earlier this month with praise for GP efforts and to restate his commitment to the partnership model in light of the 10-year plan for health.

Asked whether she trusts Mr Streeting’s intentions, Dr Bramall argued that GPs will have to engage ‘in good faith’ until ‘we get to a point where that’s not possible’.

Dr Bramall said: ‘Do we believe that? Do we trust that? We have no choice but to believe and trust in the Secretary of State and in the elected government, and if we’re then let down, well, then we will act accordingly. But they’re the only government we have, and the fact that we’re having conversations is a world away from where we were over a year ago.’

She added: ‘Trust is really hard to build and it’s very easy to break, and I think the months ahead are going to be very fragile.

‘I think it’s there’s a lot to play for, and I think people are listening to us, but now they’ve got to come out with actions, not just some nice, warm words. And so everything is in their gift and the ball is in their court.’

Listen to the full interview on the new episode of the Pulse in Focus podcast here.