29 February 2024
Dear Colleague,
Yesterday’s NHSE GP Contract 24/25 announcement and letter has brought us no joy. So I have this list for you:
- GP Contract 24/25
- BMA Referendum on the non-negotiated contract 24/25
- After the Referendum – GPCE’s approximate timeline
- London GPs WhatsApp group
- Staying safe?
- Get involved
- GP Contract 24/25
Yesterday we finally received details of NHS England’s GP contract for 24/25, under cover of a letter from Dr Amanda Doyle, NHS National Director of Primary Care. This contract has not been negotiated with your national representatives in GPC England.With inflationary pressures affecting everything we do, the current offer is not only derisory, it offers no recognition that we are shedding staff through burnout and ongoing unbearable workforce pressures and is a further raid on your ability to deliver your core essential services to patients safely. The 2% is made up of just 1.9% Global Sum and means that the coming months will be even more difficult for our practices.That 2% is for total national practice funding, not just pay. So while other parts of the health service have received funding uplifts of 6% to cover inflationary costs, including the pay of nurses, managers and administrative staff, GPs and general practice staff are expected to continue to do more with less whilst costs go up and funding goes down.
This is a fraction of current inflation and goes nowhere near addressing the fact that at 7%, general practice is currently on its smallest share of the NHS budget in eight years, for 90% of the activity; eating away at preventative care while politicians say they are desperate to keep patients healthy and out of hospital, and reducing essential services funding for the very services patients want better access to.
This political refusal to acknowledge the worsening crisis in our health system is a further attack on the effective delivery of general practice in London – an essential service to Londoners, including some of the most deprived communities in the country.
- BMA Referendum on the non-negotiated contract 24/25
So next week, from 7 March, there will be a BMA Referendum on this non-negotiated contract for 24/25. It will be open to ALL GPs – registrar GPs, locum GPs, employee GPs, or employer GPs – but to ensure trade union law is complied with both now and down the timeline set out below you’ll need to be a BMA member or join the BMA now. - After the Referendum – GPCE’s approximate timeline
With the publication of the non-negotiated contract for 24/25, the Chair of GPC England, Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer has set out the approximate timeline below for the coming months to enable you to appreciate the widest context in which the Referendum is taking place. This timeline may be subject to change, none the least because it is the Prime Minister who decides when to call a general election and not GPC England or the BMA, but also because it will be impacted by the referendum result. - London GPs WhatsApp group
Your GPC England reps in London have launched a WhatsApp group which all GPs are encouraged to join. The aim is to provide a space to share information following Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer’s call to action in February, gather views and consider what steps would be an appropriate response to the Contract imposition. WE need you to get involved and be ready to lend your support! Follow this link from the phone where you have your WhatsApp account and join the group. - Staying safe?
As the general practice workload becomes ever more complex and unsafe, with more and more requests coming through from other parts of the system for GPs to take on responsibility for increased monitoring, prescribing, investigating and treating patients who are often very unwell and vulnerable, there are real concerns about the impact that the growing pressure is having on both practitioners and patients. Our latest workforce survey continues to paint a bleak picture of low morale and retention and high workload and vacancies across London general practice.Practices responsible for over 2.5m patients, a quarter of the Capital’s registered patients, told us about the vacancies they are struggling to fill, retirement plans, and concerns about their ability to safely meet patient need over the coming months. An increasing number of practices say that their ability to deliver safe patient care is being impacted by workload shift from other workers, and 90% of those practices say that they are unable to absorb that additional workload. A set of selected slides from the final report can be viewed here. Please remember, our GP Professional Support Network is there if you are struggling personally. - Get involved
– highlight the pressure you are under
The General Practice Alert State reporting system, which we are currently rolling out in London, highlights the pressures on general practice across the Capital in real time. By answering just six questions each week you can give us valuable, high quality, data to evidence the challenges you face and to change the narrative from individual practices being to blame for patients struggling to get appointments, to the more accurate reasoning that pressures on general practice are due to system-wide problems. If you haven’t already signed up, you can do so here.– help tell the story of London general practice
We use data from our regular workforce surveys and elsewhere whenever we can, but human stories are far more impactful than data and we need people working in general practice to tell your story and show the people behind the jobs in general practice. These human stories help us to get media coverage, illustrate issues when meeting with local MPs and opinion formers, and create online campaigning resources. Anyone in the practice team can take part in these activities, as long as you can speak clearly about your work, what you do, and how that affects patient care. Our communications team can tell you more.– join the London GPs WhatsApp group
As I outlined above, the London GPs WhatsApp group will be used to share information from GPC reps, seek views from frontline GPs and consider next steps. Follow this link from the phone where you have your WhatsApp account and join the group.– vote in the GPC England elections
London needs the strongest representation, not only in terms of NHSE but also within our own national representative body, fighting for OUR GPs and practices across the Capital. This year sees six of the London GPC regional constituencies up for election. Nominations close at 12pm on Monday 4 March. You can find out more here.
Please do share this MWord with your practice colleagues. As ever, I welcome your feedback at mword@lmc.org.uk. And do know that the team of experts and leaders here at Londonwide LMCs are here for you and by your side.
With best wishes
Dr Michelle Drage MBBS FRCGP
CEO, Londonwide LMCs