GPs threaten to bring 'NHS to a standstill' with industrial action as junior doctors reach pay deal

Unprecedented industrial action by GPs could bring the NHS to a “standstill”, doctors have warned.

The British Medical Association (BMA) is balloting family doctors in England on whether they are in favour of staging collective action, the first of its kind in 60 years.

The vote comes amid a dispute over funding. The previous government increased GP budgets by just 1.9% this year – an increase labelled by “derisory” by the BMA. If the ballot passes, doctors could reduce the care they provide, limiting the number of patients they see to 25 a day.

Meanwhile, the government has reached a pay deal with junior doctors, who have gone on strike 11 times over the past 17 months.

The BMA hope that the threat of industrial action could leverage gains for general practitioners, too.

“General practice is broken,” said Dr David Wrigley, deputy chair of GPC England at the BMA.

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“We have lost the equivalent of 1,715 full-time, fully qualified GPs since 2015, and our teams are delivering an average of 1.45 million appointments a day for just 30p a day for every patient registered with us. That’s less than the cost of an apple.”

The vote closes today (29 July), with possible collective action starting on 1 August.

Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chairwoman of the BMA’s England General Practitioners Committee told PA that the move could bring the NHS to a “standstill very quickly” – though she stressed that the planned action is not a strike.

“The GP model is why the NHS has lasted as long as it has done and when you try and break the GP model, you break the gatekeeper, and when you break the gatekeeper, you break the NHS,” she said. “I think that is what we’re seeing on a macro level.”

The BMA polled 19,000 GPs on the new funding contract in April. A staggering 99% rejected it.

What has the new government promised GPs?

Less than 10% of the £165bn NHS budget in England is spent on primary care. Labour’s new health secretary Wes Streeting has pledged to increase the proportion of NHS funds going to general practice.

Earlier this month, he said he wanted to “shift the focus of the NHS out of hospitals and into the community” to “fix the front door of the NHS”.

“I’m determined to make the NHS more of a neighbourhood health service, with more care available closer to people’s homes,” he said. “Because if patients can’t get a GP appointment, then they end up in A&E, which is worse for them, and more expensive for the taxpayer.”

Last year, almost 61 million GP appointments took place more than two weeks after being requested.

Streeting has met with the BMA to “discuss their priorities”, the Department of Health and Social Care said.

It’s not the only industrial dispute facing the new health secretary. Streeting has reportedly reached an agreement with junior doctors after months of strikes. In a speech later today (29 July), chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to hike their pay by 20%. This is a backdated increase of 4.05% for 2023-24, alongside an existing rise of between 8.8% and 10.3%.

Dr Annie Williamson, a research fellow at Institute for Public Policy Research and practising NHS doctor, welcomed the “brilliant news” – but called for reform to the pay negotiation system.

“An end to strikes is a crucial first step to getting the NHS back on track. Yet the government must also address the root cause of why they’ve happened in the first place,” she said.

“The way the government and NHS staff negotiate is broken. Pay review panels have no direct seat for unions or staff, so strikes become one of the only ways to negotiate, rather than a last resort. We need to fix the process to avoid ending up with more strikes in a year or a decade.”

Other NHS staff can also expect a pay rise. Reeves is expected to accept pay review body recommendations that will see NHS staff, teachers and other public sector workers enjoy a 5.5% salary increase.

The hike could cost the Treasury up to £10bn.

The pay rises will be welcomed by medics. However, expect cuts in other areas; Labour are claiming that the previous government left a £20bn “black hole” in public finances.

Policies on the chopping block include former PM Boris Johnson’s plans to build 40 new hospitals by 2030.

Last week, Streeting told MPs that the programme was not deliverable in this time frame.

“I want to see the new hospital programme completed, but I am not prepared to offer people false hope about how soon they will benefit from the facilities they deserve,” he said.

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