Dear colleagues
Practices taking action
Following the overwhelming YES vote in our ballot practices are beginning to take action – the range of actions are all detailed on the toolkit menu on the BMA website. Each action is safe, effective, sustainable and clear, and it is up to each practice to choose which actions to take, and when. Your LMC may also provide you with additional advice, tailored to local arrangements.
As LMCs are aware, we are gathering data on any actions that practices across England are taking, so we can measure the impact of collective action. This crucial information will help inform our discussions and negotiations with NHS England, encouraging them to do the right thing for patients in protecting general practice, as well as support the new Government in delivering on the commitments in their election manifesto.
Surveys will be sent weekly on Mondays, with a deadline of 5pm on Sunday for practices to complete. These surveys should be completed by only one member of staff per practice.
Please look out for the weekly messages from your LMCs about completing the action tracker return. These insights are vital to the overall campaign and securing the profession’s objectives.
If you haven’t received a copy of the survey to disseminate, or if you have any questions, please email info.lmcqueries@bma.org.uk. Thank you in advance for your support with this.
Read our GP campaign page for more information about the actions you can take and how to order campaign materials and patient leaflet. There is also a patient-facing animation, complete with additional subtitles that can be activated for screen reading.
Data Request for Cloud Based Telephony Statistics
You will have received in your practice a request to share telephony data due to a Data Provision Notice. This email will have been sent to the main practice contact registered with the CQC. We have received additional documentation and messaging from NHSE on this issue. David Wrigley and Mark Coley met NHSE yesterday on the topic. We were given 24hrs notice of the data request and documentation associated with it.
We are now analysing the information we have been sent and will issue a further update with more information. At the present time we would ask that you defer making a decision this week and await further communication from us.
Practice Finance Survey – Summer 2024
We are inviting practices in England to complete our Practice Finance survey. The aim is to build evidence for the GPC England team to support the annual contract negotiations.
We appreciate how hard the past few months have been for GP contractors and their managers. This is your opportunity to feed into an evidence base demonstrating the impact of inflation and rising costs, over the last couple of years, on GP practices across England.
Please send the survey link to your practice manager, so that they can complete the survey. The survey will be close at 9am, Tuesday 17 September.
We recommend that respondents have relevant information to hand before starting the survey: they will need GP practice accounts for 2022/23 and 2023/24, expenditure data for April 2023 and April 2024, and information on staff numbers and practice list size.
Take the survey: https://www.research.net/r/H9CYXCP
2024/25 practice funding increase for pay uplifts - Implications for General Practice
NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care have finalised how the national practice contract baseline funding – ‘Global Sum’ – will be uplifted for 2024/25 following the DDRB’s recommendation for a 6% uplift to the pay element of contracts (GP contractors / partners) and the salaried GP pay range. For more details, read the letter from Dr Julius Parker, GPCE Deputy Chair.
DHSC announcement to expand the ARR Scheme to include GPs
GPC England, Sessional GPs Committee and GP Registrars Committee have written a letter to the Secretary of State for Health, Wes Streeting, about our concerns over the DHSC announcement to expand the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) to include GPs, and how the expansion can be best implemented and possible long-term alternatives.
We expressed concerns that providing this funding at PCN level does not provide GPs and patients with the desperately needed stability required, and instead suggested that it would be far more effective to provide this funding at a practice level, helping to address GP unemployment in the places most severely affected. In the long-term, GP contract funding must be increased so practices have full control over who they recruit to best serve their patients’ needs without the need for additional schemes like ARRS.
GP pressures: latest workforce data
The latest workforce data showed that the NHS had the equivalent of 27,662 fully qualified full-time GPs in July 2024 – a decrease of 8 FTE GPs since the previous month, and 1,702 fewer fully qualified full-time GPs than in September 2015. The number of GP practices in England has decreased by 98 over the past year – reflecting a long-term trend of closures and mergers.
Between September 2015 and June 2023, the NHS had been losing FTE fully qualified GPs at an alarming rate. While some recent gains are positive, they have not been sufficient to make up for historical losses. During this time, there has also been a rise in the number of patients, with July 2024 seeing yet another record-breaking number. GPs are now responsible for about 18% more patients than in 2015, demonstrating ever mounting workload pressures.
BMA sessional GP conference 2024: diversity, opportunity, safety
Our conference for sessional GPs is happening at BMA House and online on 20 September. It's free for members, but non-members can also attend. This event will give you information and updates on topical issues including future models of general practice and establishing professional relationships with new clinical roles such as ARRS staff and PAs. Breakout groups will provide practical advice and guidance on a choice of topics in smaller groups. Check out the details of the day and register your place
The BMA’s clinical academic trainees conference is an exciting half-day event on 12 September. It aims to help you make the most of your academic training and develop your career, and provide an opportunity to share experiences with colleagues. Find out more and register >
Conference of England LMCs 2024The Conference of England LMCs 2024 will be held on Friday 22 November at Friend’s House, 173-177 Euston Road, London SW1 2BJ. The deadline to submit motions is noon, Wednesday 11 September 2024. The motions should be submitteed via the BMA website using this link (further instructions were sent on 10 July). The deadline for registration is noon Friday 1 November. Register here
Reviewing LMC Listserver
We are reviewing the LMC listserver to ensure that only current and relevant officers of LMCs are registered on it. We would be grateful if you could let us know who should be on the listserver on behalf of your LMC, eg office email and/or medical secretary etc – and names, role and email address, to kday@bma.org.uk by end of 30 September 2024. Those that are on the listserver but not on your lists will be removed.
Just a reminder that as the purpose of the listserver is to allow LMC officers to discuss issues of process and strategy, which are often confidential, related to LMCs, only LMC officers should be included on the membership. The GPDF have been made aware and support us carrying out this audit exercise.
Wellbeing resources
A range of wellbeing and support services are available to doctors, from the BMA’s 24/7 confidential 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, providing confidential peer support group sessions. Please visit the BMA’s wellbeing support services page for more information and resources.
Read more about the work of GPC Englend and practical guidance for GP practices.
See the latest update on X @BMA_GP and read about BMA in the media.
Contact us: info.GPC@bma.org.uk
Read the latest GPCE bulletin: Practices taking action | summer finance survey | DDRB uplift implications
Dr David Wrigley
GPC England deputy chair
Email: info.lmcqueries@bma.org.uk (for LMC queries)
Email: info.gpc@bma.org.uk (for GPs and practices)
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