The Government has formally committed to renegotiating a ‘completely new’ national GP contract, meaning the BMA’s GP Committee has now officially agreed to 2025/26 contract changes.
At a special conference of LMCs this week, GP Committee England chair Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer welcomed the commitment, and the BMA has now confirmed that it is no longer in dispute with the Government.
The GPCE had previously agreed ‘in principle’ to the 2025/26 contract changes – which came with a £889m funding boost – but only on the condition that the Government committed to a wholesale renegotiation of the national GP contract.
The BMA set a deadline for this commitment, asking health secretary Wes Streeting to provide the assurance in writing before the special conference of LMCs.
In a letter to Dr Bramall-Stainer sent yesterday, Mr Streeting said: ‘Ahead of Wednesday’s special conference of England LMCs, I am happy to reaffirm this government’s commitment to working with the GPC England to secure a new substantive GP contract within this Parliament, without preconditions, based on collaborative work, and in the spirit of mutual trust and good faith.’
He also praised the GPCE for its ‘collaborative and constructive’ engagement with this year’s contract ‘consultation’, saying he was ‘extremely pleased’ to reach a deal for the first time in four years.
‘We remain committed to fixing the front door of the NHS, building on the progress to date to deliver meaningful reform to establish a modern general practice at the heart of a neighbourhood health service,’ Mr Streeting added.
In a speech to GPs attending the LMC conference, Dr Bramall-Stainer said the profession has been ‘neglected for far too long’, and that the Government’s pledge for a totally new contract shows that supporting GPs is a ‘top priority’.
But she said GPs still ‘need to see proof’ of the Government’s commitment to general practice in the upcoming 10-year plan for health and the Treasury’s spending review.
She said in a message to GPs: ‘The work now begins towards a new substantive GP contract. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity.’
In a post on X, the BMA said: ‘GPC England has agreed to the 2025/26 contract changes after securing a written commitment from the Government to fully renegotiate the national contract within this parliament. We’re now out of dispute and working on next steps.’
The union also said that this is ‘just the start on the long road to recovery’, and urged GP practices to continue safe working and to ‘work with LMCs and re/negotiate local contracts that are under resourced or are required to fill gaps in service’.
It comes as primary care minister Stephen Kinnock told our sister title Pulse’s London conference attendees that GPs will be given ‘a central role’ as the future of the NHS is developed.
In a speech at the conference hosting hundreds of GP delegates, Mr Kinnock said that ‘prioritising primary care’ is a ‘sensible’ way to relieve pressure on other struggling parts of a ‘broken NHS’.
A version of this story was first published on our sister title Pulse.
