{"id":830871,"date":"2025-03-02T03:12:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-02T09:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/02\/bma-accepts-gp-contract-changes-as-starting-point\/"},"modified":"2025-03-02T03:12:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T09:12:04","slug":"bma-accepts-gp-contract-changes-as-starting-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/02\/bma-accepts-gp-contract-changes-as-starting-point\/","title":{"rendered":"BMA Accepts GP Contract Changes as \u2018Starting Point\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Business <\/p>\n<div check-ads-type=\"true\">\n<p>The British Medical Association (BMA) has conditionally accepted amendments to the 2025-2026 GP General Medical Services contract. Its GP Committee for England (GPCE) approved the changes in principle but insists on a written government commitment to renegotiate a new national contract within this Parliament.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bma.org.uk\/our-campaigns\/gp-campaigns\/contracts\/gp-contract-202526-changes\">proposed amendments<\/a>, which include a funding uplift of \u00a3889 million, were described by the BMA as a \u201cstarting point\u201d rather than a final resolution. It stipulated that the government must confirm the commitment in writing by mid-March.<\/p>\n<h2>Business <strong>Key Contract Amendments<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The key contract amendments proposed include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An \u00a3889 million increase to core contract funding, plus \u00a380 million for the National Health Service (NHS) e-Referral Service, which provides advice and guidance to GPs from consultants.<\/li>\n<li>The funding increase tops up the \u00a3433 million already added to the contract last autumn.<\/li>\n<li>The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS), which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medscape.co.uk\/viewarticle\/most-locum-gps-struggling-find-work-2024a1000bl9\">previously excluded GPs\u2019 salaries<\/a> from reimbursement, would now include GPs and practice nurses in the main scheme.<\/li>\n<li>There will be no cap on the number of GPs employed under the ARRS scheme, but it will remain limited to newly qualified GPs within 2 years of completing training and those who have not been substantively employed as GPs.<\/li>\n<li>Practice nurses included in the ARRS scheme must not have held a position within the same primary care network in the previous 12 months.<\/li>\n<li>The reimbursable amount for ARRS-funded GPs will increase by \u00a39305 to \u00a382,418, plus on-costs, aligning with the BMA\u2019s salaried GP pay range.<\/li>\n<li>GPs will receive a \u00a320 payment per request for pre-referral advice and guidance, with a review of secondary care advice available to GPs to take place in spring 2025.<\/li>\n<li>Service fees for childhood immunisations will rise by \u00a32 to \u00a312.06.<\/li>\n<li>From 1 October 2025, practices must allow patients to submit routine, non-urgent appointment requests, medication queries, and administrative requests via online consultation tools during core hours.<\/li>\n<li>Also from October, registered pharmacy professionals will have access to patient records via GP Connect (Update Record).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Business <strong>Financial and Policy Implications<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The changes will increase contract funding by 7.2%, raising the estimated global sum per weighted patient to \u00a3121.90.<\/p>\n<p>In a press release, the Department of Health and Social Care described the agreement as \u201ca reset of relations\u201d with the profession, following recent collective action that had \u201cblighted the health service.\u201d It would result in \u201cslashing red tape and cutting box ticking targets,\u201d thereby freeing up GPs\u2019 time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Officials said the online request system would ease phone line congestion and help end the \u201c8 am scramble\u201d for appointments.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Dr Amanda Doyle, NHS England national director for primary care and community services, said, \u201cImproving patients\u2019 access to general practice is a huge priority for the NHS, and this contract sets out the next steps to put the family doctor at the heart of the shift to a neighbourhood health service.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Business <strong>BMA\u2019s Position<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, GPCE chair, said patients had endured the impact of chronic underfunding. After 15 years of erosion in the value of practice contracts, the proposed changes \u201cmark a turning point,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>However, Bramall-Stainer warned that true progress will be seen when fewer practices are forced to close. \u201cThe government must now deliver a new contract within this parliament for meaningful reform and vital investment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>The government must \u201cput its words into action,\u201d bring back the family doctor, and shift resources from hospitals to community-based care. \u201cOnly then can we keep the front door of our NHS open, provide timely patient care, and alleviate pressure across our entire health service,\u201d Bramall-Stainer stressed.<\/p>\n<p><em>Dr Sheena Meredith is an established medical writer, editor, and consultant in healthcare communications, with extensive experience writing for medical professionals and the general public. She is qualified in medicine and in law and medical ethics.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.medscape.com\/viewarticle\/bma-accepts-gp-contract-changes-starting-point-2025a1000567\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><br \/>\n Buffy Catt<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The British Medical Association (BMA) has conditionally accepted amendments to the 2025-2026 GP General Medical Services contract. Its GP Committee for England (GPCE) approved the changes in principle but insists on a written government commitment to renegotiate a new national contract within this Parliament. The proposed amendments, which include a funding uplift of \u00a3889 million<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":830872,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23536,4026,35067],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-830871","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-accepts","8":"category-contract","9":"category-heath"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=830871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/830872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=830871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=830871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=830871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}