Scottish GP leaders vote to pursue a new GMS contract

General practice in Scotland faces a ‘pivotal’ three years, the Scottish LMC conference has heard, as GPs voted to seek a new GMS contract to increase GP numbers to one per 1,000 patients.

Asking for a contract that recognises ‘safe, sustainable staffing’ in general practice, the conference motion demanded ‘rewards for increasing the number of GP sessions provided’ as well as ‘one whole-time equivalent GP per 1,000 patients as a national standard with a clear workplan to achieve this within five years’. 

Speaking today at the conference, the BMA’s Scottish general practice committee (SGPC) chair Dr Iain Morrison described the coming years as ‘absolutely pivotal to the future of our profession’. 

In his speech, Dr Morrison talked up the pay deal which ended the union’s dispute with the Government last month, while questioning Holyrood’s plan for nationwide walk-in GP centres.  

He said: ‘The next three years are going to be absolutely pivotal to the future of our profession. If we demonstrate that this significant investment can allow us to create safe, sustainable careers and give opportunity for iterative, fully resourced changes to accept more care delivery at home and in the community, we can continue to reshape the focus of Government and put General Practice right at the heart of the future reforms of the NHS that are needed.’

He conceded the BMA’s aim of increasing the GP workforce in Scotland to one whole-time equivalent (WTE) GP per 1,000 of the population is ‘ambitious’ but said the target was ‘the means by which we can offer bespoke, quality, relationship-based care’ to patients. 

Currently, there are approximately 1,700 people in Scotland for every GP (by headcount), according to the BMA.

Dr Morrison also praised last month’s pay deal with the Government, telling attendees: ‘We believe the deal, amounting to a quarter of a billion pounds of additional, annual recurrent funding by year three, at last gives us an opportunity to return a career in General Practice to being the safe, sustainable and rewarding career it can be.   

‘We saw that having the very top of Scottish Government being focused on how to support and build general practice could only be a positive thing’. 

Following the speech, the conference carried a motion on negotiating a new GMS contract with a focus on doubling the per-patient GP workforce. Another motion on improving protections for GPs from harassment, abuse and defamation, was partially carried. 

The conference in Aberdeen also heard from health secretary Neil Gray, who told attendees walk-in centres are not a ‘challenge’ to general practice, while refusing to be drawn on demands to increase general practice’s share of NHS funding to 15%. 

Meanwhile, a motion condemning ‘harassment, abuse, and defamation’ experienced by GPs was carried in part.  

The conference supported the part of the motion which asked to ‘work with relevant parties, including medical defence organisations, to ensure such cases are taken seriously’ and ‘ensure that appropriate support is provided through legal channels where defamation has occurred’. 

However, on lobbying the Government to ‘urgently change legislation’ to treat the stalking or harassment of GP practice staff as a criminal offence rather than civil matter, the part was carried as a reference after it was argued the wording was unclear – with stalking already treated as a criminal offence in Scotland. 

Dr Morrison’s speech also alluded unfavourably to the Scottish Government’s plans to pilot walk-in GP services nationwide from next year, describing it as example of ‘the risk of politicians having bright ideas’. 

The Government has announced a new ‘nationwide network’ of walk-in GP services will deliver one million extra appointments in Scotland, open from noon to 8pm, seven days a week.  

The scheme will be piloted with fifteen sites across Scotland, with the first opening ‘within the year’, according to First Minister John Swinney. 

GP leaders have questioned if sufficient staffing capacity and funding will be made available to realise the plans. 

Mr Gray defended the plans for walk-in centres, telling the conference: ‘I do not see walk-in clinics as being a challenge to the deal – the deal and walk-in clinics are separate policy processes.  

‘This is about providing additional flexibility for patients. We know the challenges that there are for people in order to access services, and I want to make sure that we are offering people with the opportunity to relieve themselves of attending A&E and using that as the front door of our NHS. 

‘This is not about challenging the general practice model, this is about providing additionality, and it is a pilot that we will be learning from, and GPs and health boards will be involved in its design.’ 

He also rejected calls from an attendee to increase general practice funding to 15% of the NHS budget – echoing a demand from the RCGP Scotland’s manifesto to restore the proportion to 11% and increase to 15% in the long term. 

Mr Gray said: ‘I think we are better continuing on the route that we are on currently, which is by negotiation, by consensus and discussion around funding levels that ensure we meet the needs of general practice.  

‘This is a stabilisation phase – what comes next is about the expansion, about how we can continue to improve the support that is available to general practice. I do not want to put an arbitrary figure on that that could well be not what is going to be required for general practice.’ 

Last month, the BMA ended its five-month dispute with the Government after accepting an offer increasing general practice funding by £249m annually recurring by 2028/29. 

The union’s GP committee accepted the Scottish Government’s offer including an initial £98m for general practice in the next financial year. 

The Government said that ‘subject to Parliament agreeing future budgets’ the funding will ‘help boost staff numbers and capacity’, support ‘day-to-day operations’ and ‘make it easier for people to access GP services’. 

Subject to ‘future budget processes’, an initial investment of £98m will be made available in 2026/27, with £183m being invested in 2027/28 and £249m following in 2028/29.