BMA's GP leaders set out demands to avoid strike action

GPs have set out six demands they want the government to meet by mid-September to avert strikes over the winter months.

© Nappy/Unsplash

© Nappy/Unsplash

The BMA's GP leaders have written a letter to secretary of state for health and social care Wes Streeting and health minister Stephen Kinnock setting out the demands they want met to avert industrial action.

The fresh dispute covers pay, contract funding, and how much extra money they will get to work in and run new health hubs, among other issues.

Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, the chair of the BMA's GP committee, told ministers that the 10-Year Health Plan and current contract situation meant the profession was at a ‘critical juncture'.

She said: ‘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.'

In addition, Dr Bramall-Stainer said there was ‘disappointment and confusion around the Government's failure to explicitly commit or even mention the delivery of a new GMS [general medical service] contract within the plan's pages'.

The BMA's other demands include a reimbursement scheme to reduce the number of GPs who are currently unemployed, despite rising demand for family doctors, an extension of the clinical negligence scheme, and for the Government to be ‘explicit in its preference for general practice to lead single neighbourhood providers'.

The committee voted against re-entering a dispute on 17 July, but with the view to holding another vote in September.

GPs took collective action last year over contract funding, which saw them take work-to-rule measures, such as limiting patient appointments per day and only seeing people in person.

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