RCGP responds to GP contract announcement

Professor Victoria Tzortziou Brown, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “While the College was involved in the formal consultation on the GP contract for the first time, it remains for the BMA to negotiate on the terms and conditions of the contract, and to assess whether the resources will be enough to deliver the ambitions set out in the new contract.  

“The new contract contains some steps forward in tackling the workforce crisis in general practice, but we can and should go further to ensure general practice is ready to support ambitions to deliver more care close to home.   

“The only way to boost access to general practice is by having more GPs on the ground to deliver the care that patients need and the contract indicates an intention to shift funding to allow practices to hire additional GPs or fund additional sessions.  

“This is something the College has been calling for alongside the BMA and others, and we now need to make sure the details are right so that this results in more GPs on the frontline.  

“The additional funding should also help address the nonsensical GP unemployment and underemployment issues the College has been highlighting over the last year. It’s good to see that these roles will be funded and delivered at practice level, allowing practices to take on the roles they need. However, we will also need to see continued, significant workforce investment beyond this funding if we are to bring patient to GP ratios - which are currently 15% higher than in 2015 - down to safer levels.  

“GPs want to ensure that patients can access the care they need when they need it. We are seeing 46% of patients on the same day they book demonstrating the scale and responsiveness of current general practice activity. But we know that, despite not all appointments being urgent, some patients are still waiting too long for care. While long-overdue investment in the GP workforce is welcome, it will not solve our capacity issues overnight or guarantee an ability to meet ambitious access targets. It's also important to remember that improving access is not just a question of faster appointments but also building the continuity and quality of care we know patients value.  

“There are other important changes in the contract that will require careful consideration and implementation. Some of the QOF and vaccination changes appear logical but have potentially significant resource implications. We also need to be cautious of how Advice and Guidance is integrated into the GP contract and the implementation of a ‘single point of access’ for all specialist referrals. Our members have raised concerns over how its use varies across the country, how delays and potentially blocked referrals can jeopardise patient safety, and how it can push workload from secondary to primary care without clear resourcing, consistent clinical governance, or sufficient consideration of the downstream consequences for capacity and care quality.  

“If care and activity are to be transferred from hospital settings into the community, this must be accompanied by fully costed pathway redesign, clear accountability, and funding that demonstrably follows the work. General practice cannot continue to absorb additional clinical responsibility without the resources required to deliver it safely. It is crucial that the funding matches workload and increases in line with these new processes.  

“The College has been clear: in principle we support Government plans to shift care from hospital into the community where appropriate, but sufficient investment has to follow if GPs are going to be able to deliver safe, timely care close to home. We will continue to engage constructively with the Government and external stakeholders, sharing the insights of our members to advocate for implementation that is carefully managed, adequately resourced, and avoids unintended consequences for patient care or the sustainability of general practice.”

Further information

RCGP press office: 0203 188 7659
press@rcgp.org.uk

Notes to editors

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 54,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.