The BMA is calling on the Government to help bring an end to GP collective action by increasing the amount of funding practices get per patient.
Currently, GPs get just 31p per patient, per day - less than the cost of a supermarket apple – to cover essential patient care. 1For the 2025/26 financial year, the General Practitioners Committee in England (GPCE) is asking for that figure to rise by 11p, to 42p per day.
Annually, this would mean going from £112.50 per patient to £152.50 – an extra £40 per patient per year.
To end the dispute, GPCE says practices need both this investment to stop the collapse of GP practices, as well as a cast-iron commitment from the Government to agree and implement a new, national GP contract within this Parliament.
Earlier this year, GPs voted in favour of taking collective action following a third, successive imposition of changes to the national GP contract that most practices in England work to.2
Despite repeated warnings around the scale of struggling practices, GPs were forced to start working to these changes earlier this year. Of those who took part in July’s indicative ballot, more than 98% voted in favour of taking collective action from 1st August.
The ask is part of a ‘general practice vision’ document being launched today by GPCE, which offers practical solutions to put patients first and improve their care by rebuilding general practice.3
The vision – called Patients First: Why general practice is broken and how we can fix it – explains how practices can be supported to meet growing patient need and provide the level of service their communities deserve.4
Investment overall has been so low in recent years that many practices are finding it increasingly difficult to stay financially viable. Too many practices are struggling to keep on top of running costs, resorting to having to merge or close for good. This puts more pressure on other practices, risking patient safety. Since 2010, more than 2,000 practices have closed their doors.
GPC England is hoping an increase to the annual patient payments is the first step towards general practice being properly resourced and able to deliver the care patients need over the long-term.
Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chair of GPC England at the BMA, said: “An extra 11p per patient, per day – that’s £40 a year for each patient – to secure more GPs, more practice nurses and more appointments would help stabilise our profession and prevent the loss of any more vital local GP surgeries. Doing this would be a significant first step towards us being able to call off collective action.
“Our ‘Patients First’ document offers solutions to help the new Government deliver exactly what their election manifesto promised: to bring back the family doctor. To make that a reality, we need resources put into general practice, so that surgeries can stay open and employ the doctors, nurses, and other staff they need to deliver more appointments and timely continuity of care.
“Ultimately, we also need a commitment from the Government to negotiate a new contract in partnership with us – one that is fair and supports practices to deliver the care our patients deserve, closer to home in a local GP surgery that is well-staffed and safe. The only way that can happen is by listening to the profession and working together with us to rebuild general practice in England.”
Ends.
Notes to editors
(1) The official term is ‘payment per weighted patient’. This is the amount of money a practice gets for each patient within its ‘weighted population’. An allocation formula, called the Carr-Hill formula, is used to ensure resources within the national funding pot (Global Sum) are directed to practices based on an estimate of their patient workload. This is calculated quarterly by Primary Care Support England who make regular payments to practices on behalf of NHS England. For more, click here.
(2) The GP contract is the national contract that most practices in England work to. It is known as the General Medical Services (GMS) contract. Some GPs might not work to this, but more localised contracts. However, these are still informed by the GMS contract. GPCE believes all GPs should work to the GMS contract to make funding and working arrangements clearer, but that a better one must be negotiated.
(3) To read the full vision, or its summary document, click here. The vision is informed by a series of GPCE roadshows and webinars, which took place over the summer and saw thousands of GPs give their take on the crisis in general practice and what needs to be done to fix it.
(4) For data about pressures in general practice, click here.