The BMA GPC is urging GP partnerships and practices across England to take part in action, given Government’s insufficient assurances regarding its concerns over the 2026/27 GMS contract.

The collective action announced by the BMA focuses on data sharing agreements.

Patient care

Dr Steve Taylor, DAUK’s GP co-lead, said the collective action was being taken to protect patient care.

He GPs were being asked to ‘absorb’ increasing workloads without additional resources.

Dr Taylor said: “The BMA GPC by majority decision has indicated the Government and NHS England haven’t gone far enough in responding to the concerns of GPs. Although some progress had been made this is far too little and far too late.

“The Government must understand that GPs can no longer be the sponge absorbing the additional work in the NHS without the resources and support needed.

Collective action

“We support collective action as a way of protecting the future of patient care and ensuring that there are GPs for patients in the future.

“This is about ensuring patient care is available in the years to come.

“The Government should realise that this is a priority for the population and that GPs are fighting for patient access and provision.”

Read more on the BMA GPC decision.

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Almost 17,000 GPs and GP registrars took part in the BMA’s referendum, with 98.9% voting against the plans.

They have called on the Government to return to negotiation with the BMA’s GP committee (BMA GPC) to jointly develop and agree a brand new contract.  

Full support

Dr Steve Taylor, DAUK’s GP co-lead, said: “The DAUK GP team is in full support of the BMA GPC.

“The Government and the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, need to hear the overwhelming feedback from GPs that the new imposed contract is unacceptable.

“It creates needless barriers for patient care, and massive increase in workloads for GPs and their teams.

“It is vital that progress is made in the next few weeks to address the concerns of general practices.

“If this Labour Government is genuine about bringing back the family doctor then it needs to listen and act on concerns.”

Unequivocal rejection

BMA GPC England chair Dr Katie Bramall said: “This is an unequivocal rejection from GPs across England.

“The Government cannot ignore the strength of feeling from a profession that is already at breaking point.

“These proposals heap unsafe, unfunded additional workload on to practices, forcing GPs to deliver more with less, putting patient care at risk.

“Patient groups and GPs alike are united in their concerns around Hospitals rejecting GP referrals to access appropriate specialist care.

Waiting lists

“When the Government promised a ‘shift from hospital to the community’ we did not think this would be their own waiting lists.

“Mandating unlimited access without the staff, time, or infrastructure needed to deliver it is not a plan, but a fast-track to collapse GP services, pushing GPs to either walk away due to the moral injury it inflicts, or force them to close their doors due to the pressures placed on them.

“In some settings it may even tip family doctors to ‘do a dentist’ and see if they can offer a better, safer service privately.

“GPs simply want to provide the safe care their patients need, but they know they are being set up to fail with this imposed contract, the referendum result speaks for itself.”

We are a non-profit campaigning and lobbying organisation led by frontline doctors, for frontline doctors. We are volunteers and our collective aim is to give frontline workers a voice to be heard.

Please support our work by contributing to our crowd funder.

Jess’s Rule is a safety initiative urging GPs to ‘think again’ if they see a patient three times with the same symptoms.

It was welcomed by DAUK when it was introduced last year.

Jess’s Rule

Speaking to Doctors.Net, Dr Taylor, DAUK’s GP co-lead, said the requirement in the new contract to expand the use of advice and guidance (A&G) could be at odds with the requirements of Jess’s Rule.

He said: “A&G changes will reduce patient choice and the ability of GPs to refer patients.

“GPs are generalist experts in patient care and when they refer it is always for good reasons.”

New GP contract

He added: “The new GP contract has a number of big issues which will affect patient care adversely and reduce the ability of practices to provide high quality care.”

Read the article in full on Doctors.Net.

Meanwhile, Dr Taylor has also commented in the medical media on new online access figures.

Pulse has reported on NHS England data showing GP practices received 9.2 million online requests in January, up from 7.8 million in December.

GP appointments

Dr Taylor said the increase in online requests did not mean there had been an increase in the available number of GP appointments.

He said: “Online forms are work for GPs and their teams, so the data means 2 million more bits of work without the resources to provide them.

“GPs want better access to care for patients but they recognise it’s not online forms that patients want, it’s GP appointments, and without the resources reality will not be met with the expectations raised by this Government.”

Read the article in full on the Pulse website.

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The referendum for BMA GP and GP registrar members will run from midday on Wednesday 4 March to 12pm on Wednesday 25 March.

It will ask whether members accept the contract, or want the Government to return to direct talks with the GPCE to develop a deal that ‘restores the viability of partnerships, provides fair remuneration for all GPs, and implements workload safeguards to keep GPs and patients safe’.

Dr Steve Taylor, DAUK GP co-lead, said: “The new imposed GP contract is extremely poor.

“It is no surprise that it has been rejected in principle by the BMA General Practice Committee.

“The real problem is for patients with loss of options for referral, very poor funding will reduce their ability to see GPs despite the headlines.

“The headline of £485m extra is only just over inflation and will not fix the problem for patients.

“The Health Secretary says he is ‘fixing the front door’ but patients need GPs not doors.

“It is vital that patients understand that this rejection is about protecting patient care.”

GPC England chair Dr Katie Bramall said: “GPs are in despair, uncertain how on Earth they can achieve the Government’s unrealistic expectations and fear this contract will drive away more experienced GPs increasing the risk of further practice closures.”

Read the full response.

Meanwhile, the BMJ has reported on Dr Taylor comments that the increase in general practice funding ‘merely tinkers around the edges of what’s needed’.

And Medscape has reported on Dr Taylor’s comments that financial incentives linked to prescribing weight-loss drugs, are ‘a smokescreen’ for an ‘appalling’ new contract.

We are a non-profit campaigning and lobbying organisation led by frontline doctors, for frontline doctors. We are volunteers and our collective aim is to give frontline workers a voice to be heard.

Please support our work by contributing to our crowd funder.

Dr Taylor, DAUK’s GP co-lead, said tight NHS rules were preventing wider use of the drugs and not a reluctance by family doctors to prescribe them.

He was responding to media reports ahead of the publication of the new contract, that GP practices in England were to be paid an average of £3,000 a year in bonuses to prescribe Mounjaro.

Speaking to Tom Swarbrick on LBC, Dr Taylor said the incentive payments were a distraction from an ‘appalling’ deal for general practice.

He said: “I don’t need any incentive to prescribe Mounjaro.

“The problem is that the access to it is limited by the NHS.

“I can only prescribe it if you’re morbidly obese and you’ve got four clinical conditions.

“I thought why is this part of the GB contract? And then I read the GP contract a bit later on, and I realised this is just a smokescreen because, actually, the GP contract is appalling.”

The Government has announced £485 million in extra funding for general practice.

However, after adjusting for inflation, this is worth around £85 million, Dr Taylor said.

He told LBC listeners: “So we’re getting an extra £1.50 per patient for this next year.

“And then this was this news story was leaked out before the contract this afternoon, and I realised this is all politics.

“This is to make GPs look awful. That we are not prescribing Mounjaro to obese patients. Absolute rubbish,” he added.

Listen to Dr Taylor’s interview in full on DAUK’s Instagram.

We are a non-profit campaigning and lobbying organisation led by frontline doctors, for frontline doctors. We are volunteers and our collective aim is to give frontline workers a voice to be heard.

Please support our work by contributing to our crowd funder.

Dr Steve Taylor, GP co-lead for the Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK), said the £485 million announced by the Government was actually worth around £85 million when adjusted for inflation.

He said the contract fell short of what was required to meet the Labour Government’s manifesto pledge to ‘bring back the family doctor’.

And he added that there was an ‘incredibly disappointing’ lack of vision for the future of general practice.

Dr Taylor said: “We welcome any increase in GP funding, but this is not bold enough.

“The new GP contract merely tinkers around the edges of what is needed to genuinely bring back the family doctor, which was Labour’s manifesto pledge.

“The funding increase for core general practice is only £85m, when adjusted for inflation, and will not go very far.

“The lack of genuine core funding, combined with a lack of vision for what can be achieved, is incredibly disappointing given the Labour Government is nearly two years into its tenure.”

Dr Taylor highlighted DAUK’s Your GP, here for you campaign, which calls for a GP contract that puts patients at the heart of care.

DAUK’s contract is designed to strengthen continuity, improve access, and ensure GP services are properly funded.

DAUK’s proposals are based on The future of general practice, the 2022 Health and Social Care Committee report produced with cross-party support.

Key recommendations are around continuity of care and removal of the tick-box top-down management of care.

Delivering this vision will require the Government to increase core GP funding by £40 per patient per year – less than £1 a week – to restore funding to the real-terms level of 2016. 

Dr Taylor said: “DAUK has proposed a genuine alternative, ‘Your GP, here for you’, which puts patients first, frees GPs from bureaucratic barriers and encourages improvement in continuity of care.

“The next steps must include these otherwise this will see the end of general practice, patients will suffer, and the health of the nation will deteriorate.”

We are a non-profit campaigning and lobbying organisation led by frontline doctors, for frontline doctors. We are volunteers and our collective aim is to give frontline workers a voice to be heard.

Please support our work by contributing to our crowd funder.

GP contract discussions

It follows an announcement by Dr Doyle that the groups consulted on changes to the contract would be expanded. This would significantly dilute the BMA’s role. Alongside the BMA GPC, the RCGP, the National Association of Primary Care, Healthwatch England, National Voices, and the NHS Confederation would also be consulted. Dr Steve Taylor, DAUK GP co-lead, said: “We wanted to make it clear that the BMA is the correct and legally-established organisation to negotiate the GP contract.

High-quality care

“It is best placed to ensure the contract is workable for GPs and delivers safe, high-quality care for patients.” Dr Taylor noted that the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has stated that GP contract negotiations are not their role. In the letter, DAUK stressed that constructive evidence from across the system should inform any new contract. DAUK has published Your GP, here for you, a modern patient-centred GP contract designed to strengthen continuity, improve access, and ensure GP services are properly funded. The document was written after consultation with GPs, health leaders and the public. It builds on the 2022 cross-party Health and Social Care Committee review The Future of General Practice.

Your GP, here for you

Your GP, here for you has quickly gained the support of many GP leaders, the public, and health leaders. Dr Taylor said: “We’ve already been consulting widely. It’s vital that the full range of available evidence is used.” He added: “We want to see contracts that reflect the realities of general practice, not compromises forced through around a diluted table.” Read the letter in full below. All of our committee members are volunteers. They speak to the media and campaign on the issues facing doctors in their own time. Please support their work by joining DAUK or donating to our GoFundMe. [pdf-embedder url=”https://dauk.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/New_NHSE_GP_contract_could_lead_to_more_practice_closures.pdf” title=”New_NHSE_GP_contract_letter”]

Patient-centred GP contract

We have produced our own modern patient-centred GP contract. The contract is designed to strengthen continuity, improve access, and ensure GP services are properly funded. Our proposals are based on The future of general practice, the 2022 Health and Social Care Committee report produced with cross-party support. However, the report’s publication coincided with the resignation of then-Prime Minister Liz Truss, leading to limited public attention and little subsequent policy action. Our key recommendations are around continuity of care and removal of the tick-box top-down management of care. They emphasise a patient-centred approach and plans for improvement on access and fixing problems of inequality.

GP funding

Delivering this vision will require investment. We’re asking the Government to increase core GP funding by £40 per patient per year – less than £1 a week – to restore funding to the real-terms level of 2016. Average funding has risen from £152 per patient in 2016 to £169 today. Had it kept pace with inflation, it would now stand at £209 per patient. Dr Taylor said: “General practice has been stretched to breaking point by real-term cuts in funding by successive governments. “With the right contract and fair funding, GPs can deliver continuity, improve access, and rebuild general practice, which is the bedrock of our NHS.”

Your GP, here for you

Dr Taylor added: “We hope patients, GPs, community teams, and MPs will see the incredible benefits of a fully funded and functioning general practice. “The time is now. Your GP, here for you.” Read our proposed new GP contract below. DAUK committee members are volunteers and campaign about issues facing doctors in their own time. Please support our work by joining DAUK or donating to our GoFundMe. [pdf-embedder url=”https://dauk.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/GP-Contract-Final-Version.pdf” title=”GP Contract Final Version”]

Frontline GPs

“The Government has failed to listen to concerns from GPs. In particular, GPs who continue to work on the frontline are not being heard. “The most important thing being missed is genuine patient care while focusing on access. “GPs care about patients first but are not able to provide the care they need. “Top-down impositions from Government and NHS England, without the resources, are a recipe for disaster. “Also a one-size-fits-all solution won’t work, as urban parts of the country are so different from rural areas.

Listen to concerns

“It is vital that Wes Streeting and NHS leaders listen to concerns and don’t get into a fight with the very people who have provided 20% more appointments with less money and who want it to work better.” Changes to the GP contract are due to come into effect next month. They are intended to ‘free up’ the surgery phone lines to ‘end the 8am scramble’ enabling patients to make online consultation requests for non-urgent problems and queries, from 8am in the morning to 6.30pm in the evening, Monday to Friday. However, online systems cannot distinguish between non-urgent and urgent patient queries. GPs fear this could lead to potentially serious problems being missed when the important ‘needles’ get lost inside the huge haystack of unmet patient need.

Overstretched GPs

The BMA’s GP Committee believes allowing unlimited online requests without safety measures built in opens the floodgates to an already stretched GP workforce without increasing any practice capacity. In the first instance, GPC England will consider if any action could be taken to challenge the lawfulness of the Government’s position on necessary safety measures. Committee chair Dr Katie Bramall said: “We know that the public’s number one NHS priority is general practice, so it’s disappointing to see the Government being prepared to risk patient safety, practice workforce wellbeing and GP retention, when solving this would not cost a single penny. “GPs have a track record of being the first to embrace and embed technology in the NHS so long as it’s safe and fit for purpose, but imposing such changes on general practice, ignoring our repeated warnings will do the opposite of ‘bringing back the family doctor’.

All is not lost

“But all is not lost – we still have time in the coming days for Government to meet us halfway. “We will explore all options, but I’m sure our patients and the profession would rather we find a resolution in the coming days. We want to work with the Government in delivering an NHS that we know is safe.” DAUK committee members are all volunteers and campaign on issues facing frontline doctors in their own time. Please support our work by joining DAUK or donating to our GoFundMe.

Uplift

However, Dr Taylor said the uplift was smaller in percentage terms than GPs receive from the total NHS budget. He said: “DAUK’s GP Committee is happy that the contract has been agreed. “For the first time in a decade, practices are getting something positive. Hopefully it’s the first step on the road to renewal for general practice. “The most positive aspect is the agreement that a more substantive contract will be agreed within this parliamentary term. “However, context is key. While £889m sounds like a lot of money, in the context of the £200bn NHS budget it’s small. “Currently general practice receives 5.6% the total NHS budget. “The £889m uplift is only 4% of the £22bn the Chancellor Rachel Reeves gave to the whole NHS in her autumn statement.

Bringing back the family doctor

“If GPs were given 5.6%, we should be receiving £1.2bn. “This agreement is the start of the conversation about bringing back the family doctor, but there is still some way to go.” Please support our work by contributing to our crowd funder or by becoming a member.