National Updates from BMA

Update from GPC England and contract referendum results

Huge heartfelt thanks to all of you who voted in the referendum and spread the word. 

The BMA heard you loud and clear: 98.9% of you voted NO, opting to reject the Government’s imposed changes to the 2026/27 contract Read the press release > 

GPCE (GPs committee England) met last Thursday following the close of the referendum. In response to the ballot outcome, GPCE members considered the next steps following a letter received at the 11th hour from health and social care secretary Wes Streeting where he indicated a willingness to return to negotiations over a new GMS contract. 

GPCE members voted to resume discussions provided that contractual proposals around changes to advice and guidance/advice and refer services were paused, and mitigations put in place around unlimited unsafe same-day urgent care once practices had reached their limits. 

Should these not be met by 30 April, GPCE communicated reserving the right to escalate to collective action beyond this date. Read more > 

1 April contract changes

The BMA are aware that with 1 April passing, many practices and colleagues are querying what changes need to be put in place. Therefore, they would recommend that practices review and prepare for the implementation of the 2026/27 contract. Under paragraph 57 of Schedule 3 of the GMS regulations, and under paragraph 52 of Schedule 2 of the PMS agreement, practices must have at least 14 days’ notice before variations take effect. 

GPCE is developing guidance and ‘Focus on’ documents to support practices in understanding and managing the imposed contract changes. As a reminder, QOF changes are now in place. 

The GP contract and campaign page contains the latest updates about the 2026/27 contract changes and the BMA’s dispute with Government, as well as links to guidance to help support you and your practices. Find out what the 2026/27 GP practice contract changes mean for you > 

Meeting with secretary of state on 19 March

In advance of the 26 March GPCE meeting, the GPCE chair was invited to meet with the secretary of state on 19 March. In this meeting, the strength of feeling in the committee and wider profession was emphasised. The secretary of state’s previous commitment to a bilaterally-negotiated contract with GPCE was highlighted. Three key priorities for a new GMS contract were outlined: 

• to restore the viability and attractiveness of partnerships embedded in the community 
• fair remuneration for all GPs 
• workload safeguards that keep patients and GPs safe. 

The meeting was constructive, with both sides acknowledging the opportunities that this would bring, in addition to the risks should this not be progressed. The committee were updated with regard to the meeting, and next steps were discussed and agreed as outlined in the plan above. 

2026/27 GP contract changes webinar recording

The BMA have held webinars where they discussed the new contract and the next steps for the profession. In the last newsletter they shared a recording of the webinar, which has now been updated. Watch the webinar recording > 

The BMA know how vital these discussions are to the whole profession, and want your feedback. Contact the BMA at info.gpc@bma.org.uk 

DDRB

The Government has accepted the DDRB (Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body) recommendations for a 3.5% uplift in GP pay for the year 2026/27. 

This uplift will be applied to Global Sum, raising payments per weighted patient for 2026/27 to £130.07, representing a 5.5% uplift to the 2025/26 figure. 

There will be a similar 3.5% uplift applied to locum reimbursements for sickness and parental leave. The final figures will be incorporated into an updated SFE (statement of financial entitlements) anticipated in May 2026, which should also include claim and eligibility details for the practice-based GP reimbursement scheme. 

The DDRB uplift also affects PCN funding. ARRS reimbursements will be uplifted in accordance with pay body review recommendations (3.5% for GPs and 3.3% for other staff), and enhanced access funding will also increase to reflect the 3.5% uplift. 

The uplift brings total GP contract funding (including core and PCN funding) to just under £14bn for 2026/27. 

Currently, GPCE is awaiting confirmation from NHSE that the DDRB uplift will also be applied to education allowances, GP trainer grants, GP fellowship funding, and the GP educator pay scale. The dispensing fee scales will be uplifted as is usual in October 2026. 

Read GPCE’s 2026/27 DDRB FAQs > 

Read the BMA response to the DDRB > 

GP reimbursement scheme

NHSE has begun discussions with the GLD (Government Legal Department) about including the practice-level GP reimbursement scheme within an SFE (statement of financial entitlements) amendment (which is expected this month). 

NHSE is aiming for the amendment to come into force from 1 May 2026 but cannot yet confirm this date as the GLD is still considering the complexity of the drafting. NHSE’s intention is that practice claims can be backdated to 1 April 2026 (as per its recent primary care bulletin).

Further details can be found in the BMA’s new ‘focus on’ guidance, which will be updated and reissued as and when new information becomes available. 

Read the ‘Focus on…the new 26/27 GP employment reimbursement scheme’ guidance > 

Optum (EMIS) dispensing module funding – postponement of changes

GPCE has written to NHS England to raise urgent concerns regarding information received from GP surgeries (who are dispensing practices) using the EMIS Web clinical system. EMIS (Optum) has communicated to all its users that the existing arrangement, under which NHS England has met the monthly charge for the EMIS Web dispensing module, would cease on 1 April 2026. The BMA have asked NHSE to urgently look at this issue and provide financial support for these remote and rural practices providing vital NHS services to their patients. 

The BMA have been working with the DDA (Dispensing Doctors’ Association) on this issue, and have just heard that Optum (EMIS) has postponed the introduction of this charge to dispensing practices. They don’t know what the new timelines will be on this and are yet to hear back from the letter  they have sent to Amanda Doyle. The BMA will continue to press hard on this issue. 

Resident doctors announce strike action

Following weeks of talks with Government, the BMA resident doctors committee has determined that the health and social care secretary’s final offer was insufficient and has announced further strike action in England. The action will run from 7am, 7 April to 6.59am, 13 April. Read more > 

This will include GP registrar colleagues. Please note that GP registrars in practices are supernumerary. Read further information regarding GP registrars and strike action > 

Read guidance for GP practices, trainers and LMCs about strike action > 

BMA submission published: neighbourhood health service – estates inquiry 

The BMA’s written submission to the Health and Social Care Committee’s inquiry into delivering the neighbourhood health service: estates has now been published. You can read it in the written evidence section of the inquiry webpage. Explore the inquiry and access the submission > 

Advice and guidance media and Parliamentary attention 

The imposed GP contract’s advice and guidance/advice and refer have attracted attention in the public with concerns around possible rationing of care, patients’ experiences and delays to treatment. The Government has faced scrutiny in both Parliament and the media on its new advice and guidance policy. There has been much coverage online and across print, with patient stories highlighting the impact this would have on them. 

Media articles have reported that GPs are being told to divert one in four appointments despite concerns about patients’ welfare. MPs, including those whom GPCE has met with, such as Liberal

Democrat health spokesperson Helen Morgan and shadow health minister Luke Evans, have raised concerns directly through Parliamentary questions and in the media. 

GP wellbeing resources

A range of wellbeing and support services are available to doctors, and the BMA encourage anybody who is feeling under strain to seek support. Please take a moment to check in on your colleagues’ wellbeing and look out for each other. 

Support comes in various forms, from our 24/7 confidential counselling and peer support services and NHS practitioner health service to non-medical support services such as Samaritans. The organisation Doctors in Distress provides mental health support for health workers in the UK, and confidential peer support group sessions. 

The BMA have produced a poster with 10 top tips to help maintain and support the wellbeing of your colleagues and yourself. 

The Cameron Fund supports GPs and their families in times of financial need, whether through ill health, disability, bereavement, relationship breakdown or loss of employment. 

The RCGP also has information on GP wellbeing support. 

Please visit the BMA’s wellbeing support services page, refer to our extended directory, or call 0330 123 1245 for the counselling line or peer support 

Rebuild General Practice is powered by real stories from the frontline 

Rebuild General Practice is looking to hear from as many GPs as possible about what’s really happening on the ground and to work with you to bring those experiences into the public conversation. If you’ve seen or experienced something that shows the pressures, challenges, or impact on patients and staff, they want to hear from you! Please reach out to hello@rebuildgp.co.uk to schedule a conversation and pitch those stories (confidentially or non) to media. 

Local Updates

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, with some common queries coming into our inbox and lots of new information being published so we have summarised it in the attached update as there is a little wait until our next newsletter which isn’t until towards the end of April.

Included:

• Chaperone Guidance
• Private prescribing of medicinal cannabis
• Signposting to latest emails from Cambs & Peterborough ICB re: Meningitis information & resources
• Signposting to latest PC update – with details on PLT
• NHSE updates

National Updates from BMA

GP Contract Referendum Open Now

Before you do anything else, please stop and check your inbox for your voting link by searching for bma@cesvotes.com.

An email has been sent to all eligible members today and it’s crucial BMA hears from you.

Deadline to vote is Wednesday noon 25^th March 2026.

Background:

GPC England rejected the Government’s 26/27 GP contract changes and opened a referendum for GPs and GP registrars. This is our opportunity to send a strong signal demonstrating how the profession feels, and how we can move forward to protect the future of general practice.

It is vital you have your say by voting in this referendum.

You should have received an email from  Civica, inviting you to vote, asking whether you accept the Government’s changes to the GP practice contract for 2026/27, or if you reject the changes and want the Government to return to direct, meaningful negotiations with GPC England.

General practice is critically endangered, facing extinction and the Government must work with BMA to bring general practice back from the brink; this contract will not do that.

                               PLEASE VOTE NO

Missing your ballot voting link?

Read  referendum FAQs if you need help obtaining your voting email or submitting your vote.

The most common reasons for not yet receiving your e-voting email include:

• The email is in your junk folders
• You missed the email, which was sent from: bma@cesvotes.com
• Your BMA member profile details need updating
• Your member profile doesn’t hold the correct email address you want us to use on

If you still haven’t received your e-ballot, please let us know or contact us GPContract@bma.org.uk.

 No more empty words. No more broken promises. It’s time for action.

Listen to a podcast (live from Sat) where the GPCE Chair, Dr Katie Bramall, discusses with Tommy Perkins and Andy Pow (from MedicsMoney), about how an initially hopeful path to a new GP contract derailed after the NHS 10-year plan and Treasury spending review, leading to an imposed contract and fears the “real-terms” uplift will be wiped out by inflation and cost pressures.

GP Contract and campaign page contains the latest update about the contract, as well as guidance to help support you, and your practices.

2026/2027 Contract Changes webinar recording

General practice is critically endangered, facing extinction and the Government must work with BMA to bring general practice back from the brink; this contract will not do that.

BMA held webinars where it discussed the new contract and the next steps for the profession. Watch the webinar recording: GPC England contract update webinar

Contact at info.gpc@bma.org.uk

Meningitis outbreak

Neighbourhood Health Services

DHSC and NHS England have published new documents setting out how the neighbourhood health services proposed in the 10 Year Health Plan are expected to work in practice:

• DHSC: Neighbourhood health framework
• NHS England: Fit for the future – towards population health delivery models

These documents, originally expected to be released in November 2025, provide important insight into DHSC and NHS England’s plans. GPC England is currently working with the BMA’s policy teams to analyse both documents and to produce materials for members.

They highlight certain targets and areas of focus, with GP access and urgent on the day (90% target) being one example. They also touch more widely upon the government’s ‘reform agenda’, which include the use of technology, ‘proactive’ population health based approaches and out of hours care, encompassing urgent and emergency services.

GP hospital referrals: Single point of access subject to locally agreed pathways

As part of the contract changes announced by NHS England, the Advice & Guidance DES will be removed, the money moved in Global Sum, and new contractual requirements around the use of advice and guidance introduced.

Alongside this, NHSE have also announced a push towards the implementation of a Single Point of Access (SPoA) system for GP referrals into secondary care.  Once rolled out this will mean that all referrals will go through a Trust’s SPoA, where a decision will be made as to whether the referral is allowed to progress or is pushed back to the GP with for ‘advice and guidance’.

The right to refer and ability for patients to access care across the primary and secondary interface is a key tenet of a functioning health system.  GPCE has strong concerns that this will undermine the GP’s right to make referrals on their patients’ behalf,  and adversely impact upon patient care and cost effectiveness due to delays in patients being seen.

NHSE have stated that these SPoA and pathways will be subject to ‘locally agreed pathways.  It is vital that these are co-produced, with LMCs and practices agreeing the design and implementation of any such local pathways. Whilst alternatives to hospital referrals may at times be appropriate, and be used as a supportive clinical tool, they must not be used to delay appropriate referrals, deflect referrals inappropriately, or prevent patients accessing specialist assessment where clinically required.

Further guidance for LMCs and practices will be published shortly.

Mapping of ‘clinically urgent’ appointments 

BMA is still awaiting the draft Regulations that will set out the detail of how new contractual requirements announced by NHS England will operate.  However, BMA is aware that some ICBs have already asked practices to record appointments for all patients they deem to be clinically urgent using appointment slots mapped to the General Consultation Acute national category within General Practice Appointments Data (GPAD).

It is for GP practices to determine which patients are clinically urgent.

BMA will be publishing further guidance on this shortly.

NHSPS asset transfer

ICBs have written to NHS Trusts inviting them to take over leases currently held by NHS Property Services, including a significant number of GP surgery buildings. While DHSC’s guidance published at the end of January set out a timeline for Expressions of Interest (EOIs) to be submitted to NHSPS by the end of March, we are concerned to see the deadline brought forward to 13 March in the Southeast region. Equally worrying is the absence of consultation with the practices affected, and the fact that practices themselves have not been invited to submit EOIs.

BMA is writing to Government to challenge this approach and to seek urgent clarity on what these changes mean for impacted practices- particularly given the ongoing crisis caused by disputed service charge debt.

Dispensing

NHS funding to cease for Emis Web dispensing module | Dispensing Doctors’ Association

From April 1, dispensing practices using EMIS Web have been told they will need to pay for the dispensing module.

In a communication from Optum EMIS received Wednesday 18 March, customers were informed that NHS England will cease central funding for this module on 1 April, and that as a result Optum will start invoicing practices directly.

It is believed (but not confirmed) that the new charge will be 25p per registered patient (note: not dispensing patient).

Neither the Doctors Dispensing Association (DDA) nor GPCE were informed of the change, and to date, there has been no communication of the change by NHS England.

NHS England and Optum have been asked for comment.

MP meetings

GPC England has recently met with a number of MPs including Sarah Green MP who we briefed on estates and wider GP pressures and Health Select Committee member, Joe Robertson MP who it discussed our concerns around the GP contract with.

BMA also met with Liberal Democrat Primary Care Spokesperson Helen Maguire MP to discuss the future of general practice funding in particular the Carr-Hill formula and Shadow Health Minister, Dr Luke Evans MP. Following our meeting Dr Evans raised an urgent question in parliament regarding the GP contract where he highlighted particular concerns around patient safety linked to the definition of an ‘urgent’ appointment and concerns echoes by GPCE regarding advice and referral.

In addition, BMA has met with The Rt Hon Pat McFadden MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, to discuss fit notes. During the meeting it outlined the importance of the doctor patient relationship when dealing with fit note requests, the role of occupation health and what support patients may need during periods of ill health.

Biobank data

Following a recent report in the Guardian which indicated that confidential data shared by patients with biobank had surfaced online in a way that made it potentially identifiable. Practices may find themselves fielding questions from concerned patients. GPC has long represented the concerns of practices across the UK in discussions with government over use of data for consented cohort studies.

You will be aware of the recent Data Provision Notice issued by DHSC which transferred responsibility and legal liability for GP data shared as part of studies and projects including Biobank. In line with this, there is nothing further for practices to do at this time. Should any patients present with concerns about these reports, they should be referred to Biobank’s response or, if they express a desire to stop sharing their data – they should get in touch with Biobank’s Data Protection Officer

Sessional GPs Committee Regional Elections

The Sessional GPs committee is part of the BMA’s GPC and provides national representation for all salaried and locum GPs. The Sessional GP committee (SGPC) is seeking nominations for 1 elected member of the committee. To stand for election you must be a BMA member and meet the criteria noted on the Sessional GP election guide which is available on the elections portal.

If you would like to nominate yourself, please go to elections.bma.org.uk (deadline noon 1 April 2026).

If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact elections@bma.org.uk

Rebuild General Practice is powered by real stories from the frontline

Rebuild General Practice is looking to hear from as many GPs as possible about what’s really happening on the ground and to work with you to bring those experiences into the public conversation. If you’ve seen or experienced something that shows the pressures, challenges, or impact on patients and staff, we want to hear from you!

Please reach out to hello@rebuildgp.co.uk to schedule a conversation and pitch those stories (confidentially or non) to media.

National Updates from BMA 

General Practice: Critically Endangered, Facing Extinction

The Government has indicated they will share their final positions on the 2026/27 GP contract changes in England. It is vital they recognise the critical situation we face with increasing workloads, stretched finances and an exhausted workforce. In the meantime the BMA has just published a 30-minute podcast where the GPC England Chair, Dr Katie Bramall, and Dr David Wrigley, talk about where we are at the moment in general practice and the real challenges we’re facing as a profession.

Listen to the podcast >

Read the transcript

BMA has also created two bite‑sized briefings on what we need to see from NHS England to fill the vacuum around ‘Neighbourhoods’ as well as expanding on the themes we covered with our profession being critically endangered, and facing extinction:

• Facing extinction – ‘Neighbourhood health – lead or be led’
• Facing extinction – ‘Why this campaign, and Why Now?’

GPC England will meet on Thursday Feb 26th to scrutinise the contract, then debate and vote on the offer from Government.  BMA is undertaking some further webinars to discuss the new contract and what the next steps are for the profession. You can use the links below for these.

• Thursday 5 March, 12-1:30pm – register here
• Tuesday 10 March, 7-8:30pm – register here
• Wednesday 18 March, 12-1:30pm – register here

The BMA knows how vital these discussions are to the whole profession and wants your feedback and to bring you along, so please feed in any queries you have to info.gpc@bma.org.uk

Parliamentary Health and Social Care Select Committee submission

The BMA has submitted written evidence to the ‘Health and Social Care Select Committee inquiry into delivering the neighbourhood health service: estates inquiry’. The response outlines our recommendations and concerns including views on the NHS ten-year health plan, ensuring that GP premises are supported to meet future patient need. We also explain our concerns regarding the use of private finance initiatives within the NHS and the importance of appropriately resourcing general practice. BMA will share a copy of the submission once it has been published by the committee.

Refresh of the ‘Pressures in General Practice’ webpage

The BMA has produced a new page analysing the current state of general practice in England. Drawing on the latest workforce and appointment statistics, it highlights how rising patient demand, shrinking GP workforce and workload pressures are affecting GP services; from longer waits to increased use of urgent care. It also explains how insufficient core GP contract funding and limited infrastructure are hindering recruitment, creating the paradox of GP underemployment despite high demand.

Update on your pension and missing records

Pharmacy services microsite for patients

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has developed a small ‘micro’ website to provide information to patients on three CPCF (Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework) services and directing them to the NHS website search functionality should they wish to identify a pharmacy to access a service. This is intended to address concerns that some websites providing similar information for patients only direct them to a limited list of pharmacies providing the services. The microsite also contains information for patients on their right to choose which pharmacy they use for the provision of services.

Online 113 form

The DWP has contacted GPCE to note that they are aware of a significant fraud risk associated with the online ESA113 form (for healthcare professionals to fill in if DWP asks for information in connection with Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit).  They have checked and the total number of downloads in the 12 months to 30 September 2025 was only 1,261 i.e. about 100 a month and therefore DWP will ask for it to be removed from GOV.UK and also remove the reference to it in the introductory notes of the paper version of the 113.

Improving the nation’s diet: the impact of ultra-processed food 

A new BMA report Improving the nation’s diet: the impact of ultra-processed food has been published, which examines the consequences of harmful dietary patterns, including rising consumption of UPFs (ultra processed foods) and calls for measures to protect the health of the population. Read more here.

Employment Rights Act 2025 

The latest reforms under the Employment Rights Act 2025 took effect on 18 February, rolling back much of the restrictive Trade Union Act 2016. Changes include extending strike mandates to 12 months, reducing strike notice periods to 10 days, simplifying ballot rules, strengthening dismissal protections, and scrapping picket supervisor requirements. Further information on the Government’s timetable for reform is here. Critically, scrapping the arbitrary 50% turnout threshold and introducing e-balloting have been delayed until at least August 2026. The BMA will continue to hold Government to account for the timely delivery of these commitments.

Evaluation of the NHSE Record a Vaccination Service (RAVS) team support for GP nurse vaccinators 

NHSE’s Record a Vaccination Service (RAVS) team intends to approach a number of provider groups, including GP nurse vaccinators, over the coming weeks to evaluate how effectively RAVS supports them in delivering infant vaccinations with a focus on:

• Giving vaccinations
• Recording vaccinations
• Sharing vaccination records across organisations

They anticipate that the opportunity will be communicated via the primary care newsletter and/or the practice manager mailing list.

This is voluntary user research only – there will be no contractual, performance or assurance implications. Findings will be anonymised and used solely to inform improvements to the digital service.

Chaperone guidance

Concerns have been raised about NHSE’s recent guidance on Improving chaperoning practice in the NHS, based on GMC guidance on Intimate examinations and chaperones. BMA has previously identified this as a significant challenge for doctors. This is covered in the BMA’s Core Ethics Guidance in Sect. 2.5.

Rebuild GP Campaign – The Fight Against GP Bureaucracy

Our colleagues at Rebuild GP are launching a new campaign: we need to let Government, NHS England and our patients know about the massive and unsustainable amount of unnecessary paperwork, admin and red tape we have to tackle daily in order to care for our patients.

The link to the website can be found here: https://rebuildgp.co.uk/the-fight-against-gp-bureaucracy

It includes shareable content for social media, contacts for campaigning, and shareable graphics for your surgery wall/website.

• GPs are not short of effort. We are short of time.
• Every unnecessary task pushed into general practice means fewer appointments for patients.
• You cannot fix access while loading more admin onto GPs.
• Take bureaucracy off our desks and put patients first.
• Patients are frustrated. GPs are exhausted.
• The common problem is bureaucracy stealing time from care.
• This has to change.

As always, please keep in touch with us at the Cambs LMC office with any questions, examples, and feedback.

National Updates from BMA 

General Practice: Critically Endangered – Facing Extinction

Many thanks to those of you who logged in to the recent webinars. It was great to connect with over a thousand GPs joining and contributing to where we are now, and the future direction of travel ahead of coming back to you with more information next month regarding the 2026/27 contract. BMA expects to receive the final position from government at the end of the month. GPC England will also then meet, scrutinise and vote thereafter, and will start webinars on the new contract – and your opportunity to feed back on it – at the start of March.

For those of you unable to join, BMA will be publishing a shortened 30-minute podcast and will also be sharing ‘bite size’ briefings on what we need to see from NHS England to fill the vacuum of ‘Neighbourhoods’ as well as expanding on the themes we covered around our profession being critically endangered, and facing extinction:

The loss of our habitat through starvation of premises funding; over-exploitation via being expected to absorb rising demand; greater clinical complexity; workload shifts and greater bureaucracy, compliance and regulation all with fewer GP:Patient ratios is classic over-harvesting. Our pollution isn’t chemical – it’s cognitive overload: paperwork, box-ticking, regulation, red tape and IT friction leading to productivity and morale collapse. GP substitution grows with new roles with no boundaries and unlimited supervision; destabilising the GP eco-system instead of strengthening it. And climate change – the constant policy churn, the drives on access and media pressure allowing no time for our species to adapt before the next reorganisation lands.

BMA will be expanding on this in light of the new contract next month. We know how vital these discussions are to the whole profession, BMA wants your feedback and to bring you along, so please feed in any queries you have to info.gpc@bma.org.uk

Dates and links to register for the March 2026/27 contract webinars will follow in the next newsletter.

Focus on: Vaccination by non-registered healthcare workers

GPC England has published a ‘Focus on guidance on vaccinations by non-registered healthcare workers, following an update by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to their guidance on the national minimum standards and core curriculum for vaccination training.

UKHA’s guidance outlines the requirements for vaccinating staff, including the role non-registered healthcare professionals should play in the provision of vaccinations.  This clarification around the role of HCSWs may not be in line with existing interpretation and could potentially significantly impact upon the way in which practices design and deliver mass vaccinations programmes.

Read the GPC England guidance: Vaccination and immunisation programmes

Letter to CMO about vaccination programmes 

BMA has written to the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty, to highlight concerns about lack of funding uplifts for GP practices providing routine and seasonal vaccination programmes. Despite an agreement from NHS England to uplift the payments for routine childhood vaccinations by £2 per dose, funding for GP vaccination programmes has fallen significantly behind inflation during this time, losing over a quarter of its value. Safeguarding and increasing uptake for these programmes should be a priority for the Government and the NHS, especially in light of the risks we’ve seen in recent years from infectious diseases alongside falling rates of vaccination. BMA will continue to pursue all avenues, to support practices.

NHS England Chaperones & Prevention of Sexual Misconduct in the NHS Guidance

Joint primary care parliamentary reception

BMA jointly held a parliamentary drop-in reception, alongside other organisations for MPs and their staff on the crisis in primary care. Over 20 MPs attended the event, hosted by Liberal Democrat Primary Care Spokesperson Helen Maguire MP, including the Shadow Primary Care Minister, Luke Evans, Dr Simon Opher MP, Ian Sollom, Lee Pitcher, Dawn Butler and Pippa Heylings.

BMA briefed attending MPs about the current crisis in general practice particularly focussing on finance and GP under and unemployment, and spoke about concerns regarding neighbourhood models and the Carr-Hill formula review. Over the coming weeks BMA will continue to brief MPs from across all parties on these issues and its asks to resolve the current crisis and ensure general practice is supported to meet the needs of patients now and in the future.

Practice Finance research: results and call to action

BMA would like to thank everyone who took the time to share practice accounts data via the recent survey and have now analysed the initial results. Key insights have been shared with NHSE and the DHSC, ensuring their awareness of the financial pressures facing GP practices in England.

You can see the key insights for yourself here.

 But it’s not too late to help with this research. The survey remains open on a rolling basis, so BMA can build a growing and increasingly robust resource that will be of immense importance during the new substantive GP contract negotiations.

• Did you start inputting data but were unable to complete your submission? Not to worry – incomplete responses have been saved. You can access them via a link that has been sent to your email address. Alternatively, head here and click on ‘Already started? Pick up where you left off’.
• Do the results not chime with what you’re seeing at your practice? Help us make the insights more accurate by sharing your data now. Only anonymised data will be shared with the BMA, and only anonymised and aggregated data will be shared any further.
• Did you already complete the survey? BMA is immensely grateful. If you can, keep up the good work and enter your accounts data for the next financial year (2025/26) once you can.

Professional obligations and protecting patients first and foremost 

Some LMCs have reported concerns from GP partners who have received contract breach notices from ICBs in circumstances where practices believe their actions were taken to comply with professional duties under Good Medical Practice (GMP).

GPC England is seeking examples to better understand the nature, frequency and consequences of these situations. In particular, we are keen to hear from GP partners where alleged breaches arose from decisions made to protect patient safety, maintain professional standards, or act ethically in line with General Medical Council expectations – for example in relation to workload pressures, safe staffing, continuity of care, or limits on capacity.

GPs are legally and professionally required to practise in accordance with GMP, putting patient safety, dignity and quality of care first. Where contractual requirements or commissioning expectations appear to conflict with those professional obligations, practices may feel they have little choice but to act in the interests of patients, even where this risks challenge from commissioners.

Understanding how ICBs are interpreting contracts, and how breach processes are being applied in these circumstances, is essential to informing GPC England’s national policy work, supporting LMCs locally, and strengthening our collective position in discussions with NHS England and DHSC.

If your practice has received a breach notice that you believe relates directly to actions taken to comply with GMP, BMA would welcome a brief outline of the situation. This may include the nature of the alleged breach, the professional considerations involved, and any outcomes to date. Examples can be shared confidentially and anonymised as necessary.

Please share details with your LMC or with GPCE via info.gpc@bma.org.uk. Your experiences are vital in ensuring GPs can uphold their professional responsibilities without fear of inappropriate contractual sanction.

GP pressures – workforce and appointment data

The latest GP workforce data showed that in December 2025, the NHS had the equivalent of 28,777 fully qualified full-time GPs. While there is a general rise in FTE GPs since July 2023, GP practices still employ the equivalent of 587 fewer FTE GPs than in September 2015.  In addition, the number of GP practices in England has decreased by 7 over the past year to 6,174.

This fall in both GP numbers and practices coincides with a rise in patients: as of December 2025, there was 63.9 million patients registered with practices in England with each FTE GP responsible for an average of 2,220 patients. This is an increase of 282 patients per GP, or about 14.6%, since 2015.

Despite this, 30.9 million standard appointments were delivered in December 2025 – an average of 1.47m appointments per working day, higher than Dec 2024 (1.41m) and Dec 2023 (1.36m).

Read more about GP pressures on the data analysis page, which shows the level of strain GP practices in England are under: Pressures in general practice data analysis ‪

How to get the most out of the LMC Support Network

• Join the LMCSN WhatsApp group– an opportunity to share questions/thoughts/peer support.
• Use the web forum for discussions, this will enable you to go back and catch up on conversations in an easy-to-follow way.
• Share service level agreements for locally commissioned services to build up a comprehensive library and list fees by service for ease of reference. This can help in future local negotiations.
• Share any documents/templates/posters/videos so that they can be hosted on the website allowing the greater LMC family to use and be inspired to do similar.
• Come to virtual monthly LMCSN meetings which is an opportunity to share questions / thoughts / peer support as well as hear from and ask questions to the GPC England colleagues.

To share materials or ideas/comments etc, please email admin@lmcsn.co.uk

If you want to access the website/forum/WhatsApp, join here https://lmcsn.co.uk/join-us

Find out more at the WhatsApp community and website at www.lmcsn.co.uk

SAVE THE DATE – Wednesday 22 October 2025

Join Us for a Cambs LMC Open Meeting!

Virtual Event – further details to follow!

Next steps in access – how to support your plans for meeting the new contractual requirements.

An important opportunity to stay informed and engaged with key updates affecting general practice.

National Updates from BMA

This week, on Wednesday 1 October, GPC England entered into dispute with the Government over contract changes that are unsafe.

The Government, DHSC and NHSE have doubled down on unfulfilled promises in terms of necessary safeguards being in place for online consultation requests and GP Connect (Update Record) write access, and GPC England has written to the Secretary of State for Health to confirm that we are in dispute.

The 1 October contract changes oblige practices to keep online consultations tools available to patients throughout core hours (08:00 – 18:30 weekdays) for non-urgent appointment requests. They also require practices to switch on access to ‘update record’ (write access) via GP Connect for other NHS providers.

To end this dispute, GPC England is calling on the Government to request NHS England to urgently:

• Provide written assurance that no breach notices will be issued should a practice, citing safety reasons, temporarily divert online requests to telephones and walk-in, due to patient demand overwhelming the available practice clinical capacity
• Meet with GPCE and online providers to secure solutions for their platforms which preclude the submission of urgent online consultation requests
• Work with the JGPITC to reach solutions which resolve their outstanding concerns, as articulated in their written statement on GP Connect, and provide practices with indemnity cover for data breaches by other NHS and third-party providers

GPCE has also asked the Government to demonstrably focus on GMS contract renewal, with transparency regarding funding envelopes for the GMS 2026/27 financial year; for new GMS; and for novel contracts within the 10 Year Health Plan, and swiftly confirming the roadmap regarding timelines for such renewal and investment.

Watch this clip from the Labour Party conference with the GPC England Chair, Dr Katie Bramall, explaining why GPs are entering dispute with Government.

Read more about the contract changes and why GPC England is in dispute with the Government. You’ll also find links to guidance, template letters to use and posters and graphics to download here

Implementing the contract changes – GPCE guidance

Being in dispute does NOT mean practices can ignore the Contractual changes implemented on 1 October 2025, nor can GPC England, or LMCs, recommend or endorse such an approach. To ensure compliance with new contractual requirements in the 25/26 contract agreement in March 2025, and to avoid the risk of potentially receiving a remedial breach notice from your ICB, practices must:

• have an online consultation tool, which is available to registered patients throughout core hours (8am – 6.30pm), to allow them to make non urgent / routine appointments requests, medication queries and administrative requests and
• ensure GP Connect (Update Record) write access functionality is enabled.

Guidance

A range of guidance is available on the BMA website, where you can also download the BMA’s Practice Charter as an accompaniment to NHS England’s “You & Your GP Practice” document, and template letters to send to your ICB regarding online consultations. Other guidance include:

• Regulatory changes for 2025/26
• Managing patient care safely from 1 October
• FAQs for 1 October 2025 online consultations
• Guidance on demand and capacity
• Setting up online consultations and appointments
• GP Connect Update Record Summary
• Waiting lists in General Practice
• Choosing an online GP consultation platform
• GP online consultations poster

Many LMCs have also circulated information to practices. As GPCE prepares for further escalatory options, please encourage any GPs or GP registrars who are not BMA members to join so that they may vote in any potential future ballot, and ensure you own membership information is up to date.

Access all the guidance: Campaigning around GP contracts in England

GP Premises Survey 2025 – summary of findings

Power in Numbers: Uniting Sessional GPs for change

Join the BMA for a free national virtual event on Thursday, 16 October 2025, from 19:00 to 20:30, open to all sessional GPs – BMA members or not. This is your chance to connect, share concerns, and help shape a fairer future for sessional GPs. Hear from newly elected representatives, get updates on the DDRB and 10-Year Plan, and explore support and private practice opportunities. Let’s stand together to make real change – register now.

Representation of GP Educators for NHS England

BMA is aware that a number of GPs that work for NHS England as educators, training programme directors and associate deans are concerned about what the future might bring with the proposed abolition of NHS England.  The Medical Academic Staff Committee has reached out to the NHS England Local Negotiating Committee and the Chair has offered to meet with those affected and update them on developments to the extent that he is aware.  If you would be interested in taking part in that meeting and being contacted by MASC and the LNC about the issues please e-mail info.masc@bma.org.uk with your details.

GPC England votes to enter dispute from 1 October 2025

At the GPC England meeting yesterday, the committee voted to go back into dispute with the Government, DHSC and NHS England from 1 October​ 2025 on the grounds of patient safety, workforce wellbeing, and GP risk.

When GPC England voted to accept the 2025/26 contract back in March, it was mutually agreed with Government, DHSC, and NHS England that necessary safeguards must be in place in time for the start of October’s contract changes. For GP Connect Update Record (write access) the JGPITC have tried to work with NHS England counterparts to make the tool safe, but as communicated in their statement, it is not yet safe.

BMA has similarly tried to work with NHS England and DHSC colleagues to explore changes to the online consultation platforms to provide additional functionality for routine appointment requests. The simplest and safest way to do this would be via tick box questionnaire setting, akin to the Florey questionnaires written and uploaded in the early months of the Covid19 Pandemic. By eliminating the option for free text with such a functionality, you eliminate potentially urgent problems erroneously slipping through – creating risk for patients and their GPs alike. This would also allow the current free text option to be switched off once the practice capacity is reached, knowing that the routine functionality would be kept on.

Despite best efforts over the past six months, BMA concerns are being ignored and there is presently a refusal to ensure any of the necessary safeguards committed to are in place to protect patients and practice staff from harm. This situation has been made worse by the 10 Year Health Plan’s recommendations to proceed with novel GP contract structures, which risk diminishing GMS and undermining the Secretary of State’s written commitments of 19 March and 11 August.

BMA is considering all our options, including potential legal action, to ensure the most harmful aspects of this Government policy are challenged and reversed. Of course, the Government could avoid all this entirely, by simply providing the safeguards and the clarity that we need which would not cost them a single penny

Should Government double down, BMA will have no option but to ballot contractors across the country as to the potential next steps. It would be in patients and practices’ best interests for NHS England and DHSC to work with GPC England to agree the functionality required to deliver what the Secretary of State has asked for safely.

Read more here

Watch the 2 minute video summary here and read the press statement.

October 1st contract changes – essential guides

GPC England has prepared guidance to assist preparations for the changes to the GP practice contract from 1 October, and will be producing more in the coming days:

Guidance explaining the regulatory changes for 2025/26

GPC England has published guidance to explain the regulatory changes for 2025/26 and considers what these mean for your practice and the patient contact clauses which were imposed in 2023/24. BMA also set out advice for exactly how to remain compliant in relation to the three modes of access, i.e. walk-in attendance at the practice, contact via telephone, and contact via online consultation.

Guidance providing practical advice on how to manage patient care safely post-1 October

The following guidance provides practical advice on how to manage patient care safely from 1 October. It contains advice on reviewing your practice’s workflow and triaging arrangements; considerations regarding the introduction of waiting lists for routine care; and reminders of how to revisit and use our BMA safe working guidance handbook.

BMA contract guidance will be updated, to answer further queries from members.

Joint GP IT Committee position statement on GP Connect: Update Record

In addition, the Joint GP IT Committee has published a statement on the current state of GP Connect: Update Record following their meeting on 3 September, which has been shared with NHS England in light of plans to make this functionality a requirement.

Read more about the contract changes and access guidance on the campaign page: GPs in England: staying safe, organised and united.

Special Representatives Meeting – 10 year health plan and impact on General Practice

The BMA has held a Special Representative Meeting (SRM) to debate the risk of the NHS England 10-Year Health Plan. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, answered questions on how the NHS 10-year plan aims to tackle the doctor unemployment crisis across the health service.

Watch the whole address by the Secretary of State: https://youtu.be/C3q5vcVqKjk

There was a dedicated section on the implications for general practice, and motions confirming our already stated concerns on the Plan, such as:

• The threat to independent contractor status of GPs
• Trusts being inappropriate organisations to absorb the commissioning or operational responsibilities for general practice
• The GMS contract requirement from 1 October 2025 to keep on-line non-urgent (routine) appointment request functionality open from 08.00 until 18.30 Monday-Friday is not safe
• Integrated Health Organisations (IHOs) pose an existential threat to the GMS contract and demanding that the BMA campaign against the move to form IHOs
• For the BMA to campaign against the use NHS of private providers and private investment

There was also a motion passed expressing that “The Plan poses an existential threat to the GP independent contractor model, the GMS contract, and therefore the very concept of the family doctor” and that it “condemns and opposes the 10 Year Plan as it is currently written”.

GPCE has previously raised concerns with the plan and the potential negative consequences on practices and their patients, especially the risks posed by its proposals on greater integration and the potential for GP services to be vertically taken over by hospitals and other large providers.

Read more about the SRM, including a full list of resolutions.

Read the BMA’s comprehensive analysis of the 10 Year Health Plan.

Ministerial briefing about the 10 year plan

Last week, the Rebuild General Practice campaign and the BMA convened a high-level Ministerial briefing in Parliament to discuss the 10 Year Plan, chaired by Dr Simon Opher MP and attended by Department of Health and Social Care Minister, Stephen Kinnock MP.

GPs from across the country including GPC England’s chair Dr Katie Bramall, deputy chair Dr Samira Anane and Londonwide LMCs’ chief executive Dr Lisa Harrod-Rothwell joined MPs, House of Lord members and parliamentary leaders to respond to the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, raising urgent concerns around protecting GMS, the emerging neighbourhood structures, parity of voice for primary care at the system table digital exclusion, and the future of GP surgeries.

The meeting identified two priority areas that the government should take forwards as they look to develop and implement the plan:

• Flexibility for Single Neighbourhood Contracts to be held alongside GMS contracts.
• Strengthening the GP Voice at the Board Table across new ICB clusters

The message from the frontline was clear: GPs are essential to the success of neighbourhood care, but without meaningful investment or change, the system cannot deliver for patients.

OpenSAFELY data provision notice

Practices using EMIS Web (Optum) and SystmOne (TPP) should continue to accept the DPN (data provision notice) for OpenSAFELY to allow expansion to non-COVID-19 analyses now that it has been sent.

OpenSAFELY has the full support of GPC England and the Joint GP IT Committee and, as NHS England becomes the data controller of the outputs of queried data, any data protection risks are held by NHS England. It is a legal requirement for practices to accept the DPN. Data will only be made available under the legal direction once the practice has signalled approval.

New GOV.UK pay arrangements coming soon for locum pension payments

From 1st October 2025 it will be possible for locum GPs using PCSE’s online portal to submit their Locum B forms and pay their employer and employee pension contributions to use the GOV.UK Pay service, rather than sending money via BACS and then updating the ‘recording income stream’ section on the portal. This should reduce the work for locum GPs and will also allow a more rapid updating of the records held by PCSE as the payment will instantly be tied to the Locum B submission. PCSE are running a webinar at 6pm next Wednesday (24 September 2025) on this. To enrol click here.

National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme survey

The National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme deadline for applications for the first wave closed earlier this month. inviting applications to join the first wave of the programme. GPCE produced a brief ‘focus on’ document outlining the programme, the threats and opportunities involved and a checklist of key questions and issues for practices and those thinking of signing up. The process occurred under tight timelines, and  GPCE is collecting examples of applications and would be grateful if these could be emailed to info.gpc@bma.org.uk.

Representation of GP Educators working for NHS England 

BMA is aware that a number of GPs that work for NHS England as educators, training programme directors and associate deans are concerned about what the future might bring with the proposed abolition of NHS England.  The Medical Academic Staff Committee has reached out to the NHS England Local Negotiating Committee and the Chair has offered to meet with those affected and update them on developments to the extent that he is aware.  If you would be interested in taking part in that meeting and being contacted by MASC and the LNC about the issues please e-mail info.masc@bma.org.uk with your details.

Doctors to be allowed to prescribe flu medicines all year round

The government has announced it will allow doctors and pharmacists to prescribe flu medicines year-round to reduce winter pressures and protect the NHS. Read more

C&P GP Innovation Forum – Thursday 18 September 2025

The GP Innovation Forum has been set up by local GPs as a new termly event for sharing practice innovation stories and collaborating on solutions to the challenges faced.

This term, their focus is access. With new contract requirements coming in October, the forum will explore how to make online access work effectively for practices.

GPs are welcome to register to attend the event being held at Marriott Hotel, Huntingdon, more details here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cp-general-practice-innovation-forum-tickets-1561578436139?aff=oddtdtcreator

National Updates from BMA

Following the GPC England meeting in July, BMA wrote to Stephen Kinnock MP, to set out the conditions that must be met by the time GPCE next meets on 18 September, to avoid the possibility of a future return to dispute.

The Secretary of State, Wes Streeting, wrote to all GPs highlighting his commitment to the GP contract partnership model and GMS contract negotiations. While it is good to get dates for talks about the GP contract in the diary, the key asks from GPC England have as yet gone unanswered. The Government must listen to the genuine concerns of GPs if it has any hope of the new 10-Year Plan succeeding in meeting the three national objectives. GPs can support those objectives while also pointing to where the plan fails in its described implementation.

There is a growing consensus across the profession that the current trajectory of the NHS in England threatens the survival of the independent contractor model and, with it, the trusted family-doctor relationship our patients rely on and want to protect. GPC England is fully committed to support and enhance the independent contractor model of general practice. The Government now has an opportunity to provide the necessary assurances to the profession and GPC England is preparing for all possible outcomes in readiness for its meeting in September and what lays ahead of us.

As ever thank you for all you are doing in challenging circumstances, and BMA will continue to work hard on your behalf to get the best possible outcomes for you and your colleagues working in NHS general practice.

NHS England update to practices

NHSE wrote to general practice and local systems this week regarding contractual changes from October 1st.

The Joint GP IT Committee of the BMA and RCGP will meet on 3 September and be able to take a view as to whether the changes made to the GP Connect Update Record functionality are sufficient to meet the required safeguards sought by the profession, and GPC England will take their advice. GPC England will be meeting on 18 September and updated guidance will be published around that point, on both GP Connect Update Record (not currently contractual) and also regarding online consults being kept switched on throughout core hours for non-urgent (routine) consultation requests, depending on the outcomes from the committee.

Many practices have escalated concerns to their LMCs and to GPC and the BMA regarding this week’s letter. Specific concerns have been voiced regarding the You & Your GP Practice document, citing “The practice team will consider your request for an appointment or medical advice and tell you within one working day what will happen next.”

NHSE have clarified that the ‘within one working day’ is the automated SMS/email which is sent by our systems acknowledging receipt of the patient’s query, and is not an expectation of clinical judgement. BMA has asked for this wording to be amended. The expectations on response times have not changed from the existing expectations, as set out in the regulations which were imposed on the profession under the previous government, and which have been in place since April 2023. Likewise with regards to opening hours of practices, subcontracting arrangements to cover practice education, or arrangements with local OOH organisations will remain and there is no change.

GP support hub launched for all GPs during the unemployment crisis

In this unprecedented crisis, GPs are facing a painful paradox: patients are crying out for appointments, while many GPs are overwhelmed and practices are struggling to find enough funding and resources to match patient demand. To support you through this, we’ve launched the GP Support Hub – a dedicated space to help you navigate the challenges of underemployment, unemployment and financial uncertainty. Whether you’re overstretched or struggling to find work, we’re here for you.

BMA has also raised this with the Secretary of State and have written to Stephen Kinnock MP, Minister of State at DHSC urging him to meet to address this growing problem.

GPs in ARRS: have your say

BMA wants to hear from you! The BMA is undertaking a review of the ARRS (Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme), with a focus on the amendment allowing GPs to be hired under the scheme.

There are two different surveys:

• One for GPs who are currently or have previously been employed under the ARRS – we want to hear about your experience of the role: take the survey here

• One for contractors, regardless of whether you’ve used the Scheme – your views on its impact, effectiveness, and implementation: take the survey here

BMA really wants to understand your experience, so it can tell NHS England and the Government what is and isn’t working well, as they work to push for better terms and conditions for GPs.

Please take a few minutes to complete the survey that applies to you.

10 Year Health Plan – BMA analysis and SRM

Ahead of the BMA’s upcoming SRM on Sunday 14 September, the BMA has published its comprehensive analysis of the UK Government’s 10 Year Health Plan and its potential implications for doctors in England. This includes an emphasis on the particular challenges facing general practice – including the risks posed to the partnership model by the proposed introduction of IHOs (Integrated Health Organisations) and a new Neighbourhood Health Service.

National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme – request for applications

The National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme deadline for applications for the first wave closed earlier this month. inviting applications to join the first wave of the programme. GPCE produced a brief ‘focus on’ document outlining the programme, the threats and opportunities involved and a checklist of key questions and issues for practices and those thinking of signing up. The process occurred under tight timelines, and  GPCE is collecting examples of applications and would be grateful if these could be emailed to info.gpc@bma.org.uk

Rabies Vaccination – an update

The previous LMC update set out NHS England’s position with regards to the contractual requirements for post-exposure rabies vaccination.

BMA is seeking to challenge this interpretation on the basis that post rabies exposure vaccination is not listed within the SFE (statement of financial entitlements) and therefore does not translate into a vaccination included within the 2021 contract changes.

Medical Performers List

Your GPCE officers have met with NHS England to discuss issues with the Medical Performers List. As a result, advice has gone out to all heads of professional standards to explain that careful consideration of the nature of (as well as the contractual arrangements for) the care being delivered by a GP is required before any proposed removal from the Performers List. NHS England were also clear that it is their role to remove practitioners from the list, and not for GPs to remove themselves, or initiate this process. Read our full letter to affected members.

Tirzepatide

NHS commissioning of Tirzepatide (Mounjaro®) for obesity management remains restricted to those meeting the NHS England eligibility criteria, i.e. patients with a BMI of 40 or above and four or more qualifying comorbidities, as outlined in NHSE’s interim national commissioning guidance.

Individuals who have previously accessed Tirzepatide via private clinics can only continue treatment under the NHS if they meet eligibility requirements upon assessment by an ICB–commissioned weight management service. If these criteria are not met, patients should be advised of this. GP may want to reassure such patients that stopping Tirzepatide (when used for weight loss) is not associated with withdrawal symptoms and encourage ongoing healthy lifestyle measures to manage weight loss.

Any person presenting to an NHS service with questions about their private Tirzepatide prescription, including stopping or tapering off the drug, should be directed to speak with their private provider.

For practical advice for primary care settings, including a template letter to private providers, please visit our Focus on guidance: Tirzepatide (Mounjaro).

NHS.NET email addresses for newly qualified GPs

GPs who have recently qualified may wish to move their account to the locum container within NHSmail (soon to be renamed NHS.net Connect). This is in order to maintain their NHS e-mail address along with access to Microsoft’s Apps for Enterprise if they no longer have an employing organisation and will be undertaking locum work in the near term. Read here for advice on how to do this.

OpenSAFELY data provision notice

Practices using EMIS Web (Optum) and SystmOne (TPP) should continue to accept the DPN (data provision notice) for OpenSAFELY to allow expansion to non-COVID-19 analyses now that it has been sent.

OpenSAFELY has the full support of GPC England and the Joint GP IT Committee and, as NHS England becomes the data controller of the outputs of queried data, any data protection risks are held by NHS England. It is a legal requirement for practices to accept the DPN. Data will only be made available under the legal direction once the practice has signalled approval.

Primary Care Doctor guidance

GPCE has published guidance for Government, employers and practices relating to doctors working in general practice who are not qualified GPs and are not on the GP training scheme. This outlines recommendations for the role and the extent of the care they can provide in general practice settings. This is also available on the Guidance for GP practices webpage (‘Advice for employers’).

Focus on managing patient care safely post October 2025

As part of the GMS contract changes 25/26, from 1 October 2025 practices are contractually required to ensure that patients can access services via online consultation software, during core hours (8am–6.30pm). We advise practices to review their workflow and triaging arrangements, to continue to manage patient care safely. All GP practices should prioritise safe working, ensuring patients receive care in an environment in which clinical colleagues can safely work.Read our focus on managing patient care safely.

GP England meeting and visit from Stephen Kinnock, Minister of State for Care

Minister Stephen Kinnock visited GPCE on 17th July to address the committee and take questions. The committee expressed its disappointment and concern around the lack of any mention of GMS in the 10 Year Plan, nor any progress toward the wholesale reforms to the practice-level GMS contract that the Government have promised, which indeed was a condition of the committee approving the 2025/26 contract and the profession ending dispute.

GPC relayed the committee’s concerns about the accelerated pace of roll out of the 10 Year Plan, and the real risk of General Practice being sidelined, undermining the Government’s objectives. Despite the Minister’s verbal assurance of commitment to GMS, the committee were not sufficiently reassured of a commitment to the necessary wholesale GMS renegotiation beyond the usual annual adjustments for 2026/27 and beyond.

Following the meeting, GPC expressed to the Minister the profession’s concern that the current trajectory threatens the survival of the independent contractor model and, with it, NHS general practice and the trusted family doctor relationship our patients rely on and want to protect.

The committee held a series of votes composed of two motions. Whilst GPCE stopped short of voting to re-enter dispute, they were clear that the following conditions must be met by time GPCE meets on 18th September to avoid the possibility of a future return to dispute. Your officer team will be meeting Government officials, DHSC and NHSE next week to discuss the following demands of GPC England:

Confirmation of the funding envelopes for GMS 26/27 and the new GMS negotiation, together with SNP and MNP nominal budgets in this Spending Review

• A roadmap regarding timelines for commitment to GMS contract renewal and investment
• Transfer of the PCN DES ARRS monies into practice-level reimbursements with defined neighbourhood outcomes from April 2026
• An emergency additional GP practice-level reimbursement scheme to reduce GP under/unemployment as soon as possible
• Extension of the Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice to cover liabilities pertaining to data-sharing and information governance for the GP patient record from April 2026; and
• That Government is explicit in its preference for General Practice / GP practices to lead single neighbourhood providers and to be the key parties at Place in the selected National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP) sites.

The Government now has an opportunity to provide the necessary assurances to the profession and

GPC England will prepare for all possible outcomes in readiness for its meeting in September.

Read letter to Stephen Kinnock, MP

National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP) guidance

NHS England launched NNHIP this month, inviting applications to joint he first wave of the programme.

GPCE has produced a brief ‘focus on’ document outlining the programme, the threats and opportunities involved and a checklist of key questions and issues for practices and those thinking of signing up.

Following the shift of care into the community via the new ‘neighbourhood health’ schemes, GPC England has also produced guidance setting core principles on out how GP practices and GP federations should engage with this and operate in an ethical, constructive and supportive manner.

Safe working guidance resources

The following resources are intended to help you navigate the 2025/26 contractual changes coming into effect on 1 October, e.g. patient access to non-urgent e-consultation requests throughout core hours, and the GP Connect switch on for Community Pharmacy read / write access.

Pushing back on workload transfer

It is crucial that GPs and practices devote their time and energy to providing services and care that are commissioned and resourced.  BMA has pulled from existing guidance key headlines on how you might push back on unresourced work, this includes a list of N/DESs and LESs.  If you know of a LES in your area that is not listed, please let BMA know and share the specification via info.GPC@bma.org.uk

BMA has also produced a checklist relating to workflow and triage.

Regulation 17 guidance

BMA has published guidance for LMCs and practices on the interpretation of Regulation 17, and in particular, whether ICBs can determine what services fall within the definition of ‘essential services’ in the standard GMS contract and demand that GP practices provide those services.

Template letter to decline transfer of prescribing responsibility

BMA has published a template letter to decline transfer of prescribing responsibility to General Practice, which is also included in our Safe working guidance template letters (Appendix 2).

BMA also urges you to continue to use all other resources in the Safe working guidance to help you safely manage practice workflow and triage.

DDRB pay award 2025-2026

The DDRB pay award recommendations for 2025-26 were finally announced, with a 4% uplift to the pay element of the GP contract and the pay range for salaried GPs. The Government has accepted the recommendations in full, but 4% won’t be enough to ‘fix the front door’ of the NHS nor expand GP teams and ‘bring back the family doctor’.

BMA’s new report The Value of a GP informs HM Treasury ahead of the comprehensive spending review why only more investment into general practice will secure the recovery of the wider NHS.

GPC England Chair, Dr Katie Bramall has written to Wes Streeting to seek necessary clarity and to ensure GPs and practices face no financial disadvantage. We need clear funding to ensure the full 4% can be passed onto employed GPs, to meet AfC guidance in ARRS roles, and have also made the case as to why the 4% needs to be applied across all three pay domains to support practice stability.

It is clear there is insufficient investment to allow practices to create additional GP roles.  Mr Streeting was advised  in late July 2024 of GPC England’s view that whilst the GPs in ARRS policy was helpful as a quick fix upon immediate arrival in Government, it won’t deliver on improving continuity of care, nor social equity, nor the evolving problem of emerging GP unemployment.

Mr Streeting has been asked again to look at direct practice reimbursement for additional GP roles. Government needs to act now, ahead of August, and ahead of the new cohort of GPs qualifying in this country, many of whom will be preparing for under-employment, and unemployment. We have a moral and ethical duty to them, and the taxpayer, to keep them in our NHS practices, providing care to patients. GPs without jobs = patients without care.

GP Wellbeing Resources

After the shock and upset of the Bank Holiday events in Liverpool, thoughts turn to our GP colleagues providing help and support to affected communities. So often BMA is the first port of call for societal stress, and that can take its toll. That week also saw the tragic news of the loss of life of Chorley GP, Zak Uddin. Thoughts are with his family, practice and patients.

Please remember you have the support of your colleagues, LMC and the BMA. A range of wellbeing and support services are available to doctors, and anybody who is feeling under strain is encouraged to seek support. Please take a moment to check in on your colleagues’ wellbeing and look out for each other.

Support comes in various forms, from the BMA’s counselling and peer support services, NHS practitioner health service and non-medical support services such as Samaritans. The organisation Doctors in Distress also provides mental health support for health workers in the UK.  Also take a look at a poster with 10 top tips to help support the wellbeing of you and your colleagues.

The Cameron Fund supports GPs and their families in times of financial need, whether through ill-health, disability, bereavement, relationship breakdown or loss of employment. The RCGP also has information on GP wellbeing support.

Please visit the BMA’s wellbeing support services page or call 0330 123 1245 for wellbeing support.

Focus on physician assistants

Following the publication of the Leng Review into PAs and AAs, GPC England has produced new guidance to help GPs and practices consider how to respond to the changes recommended by the review and subsequent instructions from NHS England.

NHSE intends to publish the updated Network Contract DES specification and Part B guidance for 2025/26 on 31 July so that the maximum reimbursement amounts for ARRS staff can be uplifted (and backdated to 1 April) and to introduce the new provisions which allow PCNs to claim reimbursement for absent ARRS GPs who are employed by a third party. Following the publication of the Leng Review, the ARRS Physician Assistant and Apprentice Physician Assistant role descriptions (annex B of the Network Contract DES specification) have also been amended, and have been shared with GPCE for comment.

GPs in ARRS survey

Are you a GP employed under ARRS, or have you previously held an ARRS GP role? Then BMA needs to hear from you. The BMA is undertaking a review of the ARRS (Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme), with a focus on the amendment allowing GPs to be hired under the scheme. BMA really wants to understand your experiences in this role and what you need to see change as we work to push for better terms and conditions for GPs. Please take part in BMA survey here.  It should take less than 15 minutes to complete.

Call for participants for the Contract Reform focus groups

BMA wants to hear from you! Volunteers are invited to take part in upcoming focus groups exploring what the reformed GP contract for England should look like. This is your opportunity to share what’s working well—and what isn’t—in the current contract. Your insights will help shape future improvements and ensure the new contract better reflects the needs of GPs and their patients. Sign up as a volunteer here

OpenSAFELY Data Provision Notice

Data Provision Notice (DPN) for OpenSAFELY to allow expansion to non-COVID-19 analyses has been sent to practices using EMIS Web (Optum) and SystmOne (TPP). The functionality to allow an opt-in for EMIS rolled out this week, and the functionality for SystmOne is already there. Medicus is out of scope.

OpenSAFELY has the full support of GPCE and Joint GP IT Committee. The original COVID-19 service grew out of the pandemic and was unique in the sense that it functioned as a Trusted Research Environment where the most disclosive data (the GP data) stayed in the system suppliers’ systems, with the GP remaining as data controller, but, via the Data Direction/DPN in force, made those data available for querying by NHSE, with the subsequent outputs coming under the controllership of NHSE. There is a level of transparency with OpenSAFELY not seen elsewhere – a key factor in gaining our support.

Practices have to comply with the Data Provision Notice by law, however the data will not be able to be accessed until practices, as the data controller, have signalled approval.

GP Premises Survey 2025 – final chance

BMA is calling on all practice managers and premises-owning partners across England to take part in theGP Premises Survey 2025, to help BMA gather essential data on the condition of GP buildings. This evidence will directly shape proposals and negotiations with Government – supporting BMA’s case for the urgent investment and backing your practice needs.

Help BMA advocate for better premises and stronger support for general practice – take the survey

Seasonal Flu Programme

NHS England has published the specification for the annual flu programme.  The specification and other related documents are available here. Practices will have until 21 August to sign up.

HPV catch-up campaign

NHSE has released information about the HPV vaccinating catch-up campaign (21 July 2025 to 31 March 2026). Practices should invite unvaccinated individuals aged 16-24, including:

• all females born on or before 1 September 2009 – up to their 25^th birthday
• males born from 1 September 2006 to 31 August 2009 (inclusive). Eligibility for boys was only extended to those entering year 8 from September 2019, in line with the JCVI recommendation

Practices will be eligible for an item of services fee (£10.06) for each vaccination administered, in line with the SFE. Further information is available on the NHS England website.

MMR vaccinations for practice staff

Due to recent measles outbreaks, NHSE has confirmed that GP practices will be allowed to administer MMR vaccines to their eligible staff who are registered with another practice under INT (immediately necessary treatment). This is a time limited arrangement from 1 August 2025 until 31 March 2026.

Completing doses must be administered in accordance with the recommended intervals in the Green Book and by 31 March 2026. An item of service fee cannot be claimed for MMR vaccines administered to staff registered with another practice, but indemnity cover will be provided through the Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice (CNSGP) and nationally supplied MMR stock can be used.

Inclisiran reimbursement

NHSE has informed BMA of an issue regarding reimbursement for Inclisiran, whereby payments have been delayed. NHSE is working with NHSBSA to implement a system change to ensure Inclisiran is reimbursed correctly going forward. In the meantime, NHSBSA are calculating retrospective adjustments from October 2024 to ensure that any missed payments will be made to contractors via PCSE. The long-term solution will be implemented in Spring 2026. GPCE reminds practices that Inclisiran prescribing and delivery needs to be part of a locally commissioned enhanced service agreed by your LMC.

GP registrars taking industrial action

GP registrars will be taking further industrial action in pursuit of full pay restoration. Strike action will begin at 06:59 on Friday 25 July and end at 06:59 on Wednesday 30 July.  GPC England has expressed its support to GP Registrars nationwide. It is appreciated that GP Registrars are the largest group of resident doctors and see their action as part of a wider campaign to secure greater resources for General Practice. Their pay has stagnated over many years of sub-inflationary awards alongside that of sessional GPs and contractor GPs – and now the shocking GP unemployment crisis that many will face when they CCT due to many years of woeful workforce planning. Many are saddled with six figure student debts alongside punitive interest rates.

BMA committee members recall how by comparison so many of us benefitted from free on-site accommodation in our hospital years; undergraduate grants; and no tuition fees. Life is very different for GP Registrars progressing through their specialty training schemes today.

As the Secretary of State remarked when he came into office a year ago, the NHS is broken. BMA recognises that its recovery will be damaged further if we fail to recruit and retain GPs of the future, and if Government fails to enact the solutions BMA has provided them to fix GP unemployment as a priority. Please signpost any queries from your GP Trainers and practice colleagues to the BMA website.

Whilst contractually, GP Registrars are supernumerary, we appreciate that there will be an impact on training practices who may wish to signpost patients to information online. Please remind your training practices, GP Trainers, and TPDs that they are under no contractual expectation to answer ICB questions regarding resident doctor action. ICBs will have established procedures in place and practices may and will communicate any access pressures to their patient populations directly.

The BMA’s GP Registrars Committee (GPRC) has also written to GP registrar members to explain the specific considerations around striking within general practice.

If you are a GP Registrar or GP trainer in England and have direct experience of blended learning as part of GP training, BMA would like to hear your views. Take our short survey on blended learning.

GPRC has published a GP Registrars’ Handbook which we encourage practices to share with Registrars.

GP wellbeing resources

A range of wellbeing and support services are available to doctors, and anybody who is feeling under strain, is encouraged  to seek support, such as the BMA’s counselling and peer support services, NHS practitioner health service and non-medical support services such as Samaritans.

The organisation Doctors in Distress also provides mental health support for health workers in the UK.  BMA has produced a poster with 10 top tips to help support the wellbeing of you and your colleagues.

The Cameron Fund supports GPs and their families in times of financial need and the RCGP also has information on GP wellbeing support.

Visit the BMA’s wellbeing support services page or call 0330 123 1245 for wellbeing support.

• The BMA’s GP campaign ‘staying safe, organised and united’ webpage

• GPCE Safe Working Guidance Handbook

• Read more about the work of GPC England and practical guidance for GP practices

• See the latest update on X @BMA_GP and read about BMA in the media

• Contact BMA: lmcqueries@bma.org.uk

Read the GPCE bulletin: GPC England meeting  I Neighbourhood Implementation Plan applications guidance I safe working resources

Local Matters

Cambs LMC Mental Health Survey

Last call to complete our Mental Health Survey which closes at 12noon on Wednesday 11 June 2025.

https://forms.office.com/e/cazeQWJhC6

If you havent already done so, or are stretched for time, please take a look and just answer those relevant to you.

Anyone wishing to raise a specific concern for us to take forward on their behalf can of course contact us at office@cambslmc.org.  Thank you in advance

Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) for weight management in General Practice 

GPC England has produced a Focus on Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) for weight management in General Practice document, which explains how Tirzepatide is used, commissioning arrangements (responsibility for funding lies with ICBs), and responding to information requests from private providers.

Please see our webpage for links to guidance and template letter.

From your Local IGPM Representative…

Dear fellow Cambridgeshire & Peterborough practice managers

Please find attached the IGPM response to the recent pay proposals impacting General Practice and the concerns raised in terms of the erosion of recent funding uplifts.

If you are not an associate member of the IGPM then you are missing out on an extensive network of support from fellow PMs with a huge wealth of experience, insight, knowledge and resources.

All this could be yours for just £50 a year. More info is available here: https://www.igpm.org.uk/membership

At a time when the NHS is advocating the introduction of formal standards of performance across all NHS management roles, let IGPM represent you in advocating something fit for purpose in General Practice. We have an existing accreditation pathway and representation at the table to ensure the collective voice of PMs is heard as these plans are made.

If you would like to find out more about how the IGPM can support you then please do get in touch. I am here to help as your regional IGPM representative in any way I can.

Kind regards,

Melanie Gearing – Practice Manager, Alconbury & Brampton Surgeries

National BMA Update 

DDRB pay award 2025-2026

The DDRB pay award recommendations for 2025-26 were finally announced, with a 4% uplift to the pay element of the GP contract and the pay range for salaried GPs. The Government has accepted the recommendations in full, but 4% won’t be enough to ‘fix the front door’ of the NHS nor expand GP teams and ‘bring back the family doctor’.

BMA’s new report The Value of a GP informs HM Treasury ahead of the comprehensive spending review why only more investment into general practice will secure the recovery of the wider NHS.

GPC England Chair, Dr Katie Bramall has written to Wes Streeting to seek necessary clarity and to ensure GPs and practices face no financial disadvantage. We need clear funding to ensure the full 4% can be passed onto employed GPs, to meet AfC guidance in ARRS roles, and have also made the case as to why the 4% needs to be applied across all three pay domains to support practice stability.

It is clear there is insufficient investment to allow practices to create additional GP roles.  Mr Streeting was advised  in late July 2024 of GPC England’s view that whilst the GPs in ARRS policy was helpful as a quick fix upon immediate arrival in Government, it won’t deliver on improving continuity of care, nor social equity, nor the evolving problem of emerging GP unemployment.

Mr Streeting has been asked again to look at direct practice reimbursement for additional GP roles. Government needs to act now, ahead of August, and ahead of the new cohort of GPs qualifying in this country, many of whom will be preparing for under-employment, and unemployment. We have a moral and ethical duty to them, and the taxpayer, to keep them in our NHS practices, providing care to patients. GPs without jobs = patients without care.

GP Wellbeing Resources

After the shock and upset of the Bank Holiday events in Liverpool, thoughts turn to our GP colleagues providing help and support to affected communities. So often BMA is the first port of call for societal stress, and that can take its toll. That week also saw the tragic news of the loss of life of Chorley GP, Zak Uddin. Thoughts are with his family, practice and patients.

Please remember you have the support of your colleagues, LMC and the BMA. A range of wellbeing and support services are available to doctors, and anybody who is feeling under strain is encouraged to seek support. Please take a moment to check in on your colleagues’ wellbeing and look out for each other.

Support comes in various forms, from the BMA’s counselling and peer support services, NHS practitioner health service and non-medical support services such as Samaritans. The organisation Doctors in Distress also provides mental health support for health workers in the UK.  Also take a look at a poster with 10 top tips to help support the wellbeing of you and your colleagues.

The Cameron Fund supports GPs and their families in times of financial need, whether through ill-health, disability, bereavement, relationship breakdown or loss of employment. The RCGP also has information on GP wellbeing support.

Please visit the BMA’s wellbeing support services page or call 0330 123 1245 for wellbeing support.

GP Unemployment Campaign

The BMA’s Sessional GPs Committee and GP Registrars Committee launched a major campaign to expose the worsening crisis of GP under and unemployment. In a joint letter to the Secretary of State, the committees issued an urgent call for action, warning that up to a thousand GP registrars finishing training this August could be left without jobs, despite patients facing severe delays in care and practising GPs struggling under unsafe, unsustainable workloads. This unacceptable situation is backed by our survey: 15% of GPs couldn’t find any suitable work, 56% are seeking more NHS hours without success, and 21% are planning to leave the profession altogether.

The letter demands immediate Government intervention, including ring fenced, direct to practice core funding separate from the failing ARRS scheme, to employ newly qualified and underemployed GPs in roles that deliver continuity of care. Read more about the GP un/underemployment campaign.

New drive to find undiagnosed infected blood patients

All new patients registering at GP practices are to be asked if they had a blood transfusion before 1996, as part of an NHS drive to find undiagnosed patients affected by the contaminated blood scandal.  Each year, around 400,000 people born before 1996 – around half of new sign-ups online – will now be asked if they received a historic blood transfusion, with those who did then being offered a test for hepatitis C.

Patients will be able to order discreet, self-testing hepatitis C kits to complete at home, involving an easy finger prick blood sample which is then posted to a lab for analysis – or they can also access testing at GP surgeries, sexual health clinics and other services.

Seniority payments update

Seniority payments were historically made to GP partners based on their length of NHS service and income received. The Scheme closed to new members on 1 April 2014 and was then phased out over a six-year period to March 2020.  These annually released sums were diverted into the Global Sum.

Seniority payments were based on thirds of average partner income, with no payment being made if a partner drew under a third of average income, 60% between one-third and two-thirds, and those receiving over two thirds average income receiving a full payment. The actual entitlement depended on the publication of each year’s Final Seniority Factor (FSF), which was last published in April 2020.

After many months of discussions, BMA has now finally received assurances from PCSE that they will not seek to undertake a reconciliation exercise for the financial years 2013/14, 2014/15 or 2015/16. However, a very small number of practices may receive further communications in future about the Tranche 1 years (2017/18, 2018/19, and 2019/20). Further information is available here.

Removal from Performer’s List: Urgent, 111 and Out of Hours GPs

BMA has been alerted to several areas where GPs exclusively working in OOH, 111 and urgent care have been informed that that they will need to be removed from the Primary Medical Performers’ List. They have been advised to resign from the performers list, or risk a formal removal process.

Concerns have been raised centrally with NHSE as this risks unnecessarily removing a cohort of GPs that are delivering primary medical services, which could impact upon their ability to undertake practice work in the future.

If you have been affected by this, BMA would be keen to hear from you, if you are a BMA member, please contact via the member services Contact us and our GPC email: info.gpc@bma.org.uk

Foresight AI model trained on GP data

Following reports in the press that GP Data extracted via GPES under a repurposed COVID-19 extract formed part of a wider set of data that had been used to train an AI model without knowledge or approval of an advisory group set up to oversee it, BMA and RCGP wrote to NHS England via the Joint GP IT Committee.

In its letter, BMA  outlined the seriousness of this action and sought immediate clarity on how the data sharing took place. This is an ongoing situation, and further updates are expected in the next BMA update.

National Updates from BMA

GP Contract webinars and guidance 

Last month the GPC England officer team delivered a series of webinars outlining the changes and funding to the 2025/26 GP contract. Thousands of you joined the presentation and question and answer sessions. If you missed out, you can still catch up by watching the webinar recording and view the slide deck here.

BMA continues to update the guidance on the 2025/26 contract changes.

Advice and Guidance Enhanced Service

As part of the new GMS contract for 2025/26, an Enhanced Service specification for Advice and Guidance (A&G) will provide a £20 Item of Service fee (IoS) per ‘pre-referral’ A&G request. Please keep an eye out for BMA’s imminent guidance.

Rejecting unnecessary proformas and forms

Read also guidance on rejecting unnecessary proformas and forms, which create additional workload, delayed patient care, and unnecessary bureaucracy for GP practices – when a relevant, factual referral letter would suffice. Read guidance.

Although the national dispute with Government is over, the importance of local bargaining, collaboration and agreement to resolve ongoing commissioning gaps continues through our ‘Mind the Gap’ campaign. Read the latest updates here

Please also continue to refer to safe working guidance, which includes template letters which help practices manage workload and limit capacity to deliver safe, high-quality care.

AI in General Practice 

Following a busy week which saw a series of announcements generate a renewed focus on the role of AI in general practice, GPC has developed this brief note ahead of more substantial guidance aimed at supporting practices to meet their regulatory obligations. BMA will be sharing a more detailed document in time.

GP Connect and e-consult contract changes

Following the agreement of the 2025/26 GMS contract, a new requirement will come into place in October 2025 mandating practices to provide some external parties with the ability to submit information to the GP record and, in some limited cases, access information within the record. While much of the detail of this requirement is still to be determined, BMA has produced an FAQs document to speak to some of the more pressing questions heard from members

Similarly, the scope of e-consult platforms is expected to expand as patients will have a wider range of ways to access and engage with GP services. Please see an FAQs on that change here.

OpenSAFELY

You may have seen an email this week from NHS England to all practice managers and GP partners/contractors about the expansion of the OpenSAFELY secure data service. GPC England has long advocated for using OpenSAFELY more widely, and BMA is aware that the plan is to now cautiously expand to cover non-COVID analyses.

The Joint GP IT Committee with input from the BMA and RCGP supports OpenSAFELY, as the team led by Professor Ben Goldacre have managed to develop robust methods for privacy and transparency which protect GPs as data controllers for the GP record:

Users don’t need to interact directly with pseudonymised patient records to run their analyses. All actions in the platform are publicly logged, in real time with the pseudonymised data remaining within the electronic health record system your practice uses, and the practice continues to be the data controller. Analyses run remotely through the OpenSAFELY platform, with NHS England acting as data controller for the service, once the initial queries of the pseudonymised data have occurred. Only aggregate information will leave the platform.

There will be a follow-up email from NHS England about the Direction in a couple of weeks, which is the point when you will be asked to press a button to acknowledge receipt and BMA will communicate more with you at this stage around the next steps which will need to be taken.

Shared care prescribing principles

BMA has now published Shared care prescribing principles. Shared care prescribing refers to medication which is initiated by a specialist and ongoing prescribing and monitoring is shared with a GP practice, usually accompanied by guidance or a shared care agreement. The principles that apply to shared care prescribing are:

• It is a non-core voluntary activity that can be declined by the GP practice for any reason
• The practice is satisfied with the quality assurance and clinical governance of the specialist provider
• If any ongoing medication monitoring is required, responsibility for this should be clear within associated guidance in the form of a shared care agreement
• The appropriate stabilisation period has occurred before prescribing is handed over to the GP
• There is enduring specialist input
• Any additional work undertaken by general practice in the form of medication monitoring, is delivered through a funded, commissioned pathway

Read the full guidance: Prescribing in general practice

Structure of GPCs and how they interact with LMCs

BMA has published a video explaining the structures of the BMA’s GP Committees (GPCs) and how they interact with LMCs.

Find out more information about the GPCs: BMA general practitioners committee UK overview

Maximise your chances or job success

3 June 2025

Join the virtual workshop designed to help you navigate the GP job market with confidence. The interactive event is designed to support ST3 GP registrars, sessional GPs seeking new or additional roles or hours, GPs qualified outside the UK looking for their first NHS roles, GPs returning to practice after a career break, and First5 GPs. Discover the support and resources available from the BMA and other organisations to aid your job search. Register to attend here

GPC England regional elections 2025 results

The elections for the regional seats on GPCE which were up for election have now concluded. The below candidates have been elected for three-year terms starting from June 2025 to June 2028.