Members have overwhelmingly voted to reject the Government and NHS England’s 2024/25 GP contract changes
More than 19,000 GPs and GP Registrars took part in the BMA’s referendum, with over 99% voting ‘no’
Read the press release on the results.
The final 2024/25 contract was put to a referendum of BMA GP and GP Registrar members in England. This took place from 7 - 27 March, ahead of any contractual changes being imposed on 1 April 2024.
The referendum did not constitute a ballot on industrial action and taking part in the referendum does not pose any risk to contractor, locum, salaried or registrar members.
The referendum result will not prevent the Government from imposing its 2024-25 contract but will send a strong and powerful signal expressing the profession’s views about the contract offer and will inform potential collective next steps.
Background to the contract changes
Full details of the contract imposition have been published to allow GPs and GP Registrars to make their own fully informed judgments.
Read our contract changes explainer
How we got here
After consideration at its meeting on 1 February 2024, the Committee unanimously voted that the proposed contract changes, which ignore the reality of the unsafe and unsustainable pressures facing practices, was unacceptable. After instructing the GPCE Officer Team to return to discussions to secure improvements, ministers, DHSC and NHSE have continued to bury their heads in the sand.
Most notably, the committee believed the well below-inflation 1.9% baseline practice contract funding uplift is nowhere near what is needed to prevent practices from continuing to reduce staffing and services or closing altogether.
Despite this, the contract currently fails to give general practice in England the resources it needs. Without this, GPCE believes that significant numbers of practices will have no choice but to make staff redundant and freeze recruitment, severely impacting patient access and ultimately reducing quality of care.
We also fear rising numbers of GP contractors and partnerships being left with no option other than to serve notice on their contracts, leading to a slew of practice closures.
What happens after the referendum
The outcome of this referendum will inform our collective next steps. There are roadshows planned in the summer and the BMA and your LMCs (local medical committees) will be disseminating further information to GPs / GP registrars throughout the coming weeks and months.
Upcoming webinars on the contract
We will email times / dates and links to forthcoming webinars and regular intervals to all GP and GP registrar members. LMCs will also have this information.
There will also be roadshows in the summer, as we will continue engagement with members throughout the year.
Future guidance on the contract changes
The BMA’s GPCE will produce and publish advice and guidance to help you consider how best to approach the contract changes. We will include this in the regular GP member bulletins and LMCs will also disseminate it to practice constituents.
We strongly encourage you to discuss this with your LMCs and neighbouring practices. It’s easy to insist that GPs and practice staff absorb more and more, but the Government is responsible for making sure enough resources exist so that staff are practising safely and patients receive safe care.
Safe working guidance
We will also update our safe working guidance as soon as possible.
Referendum voting eligibility
You would have been eligible to vote if:
- you are a BMA member
- you are practising / training in England
and are either
- a GP contractor / partner
- a salaried GP
- a locum GP
- a GP registrar / GP in training
The national GP contract was built on GPs standing together to get the best contract for them and their patients. Only by continuing to do that will the BMA GP branch of practice be able to access the best insights from across the profession in order to design and negotiate a substantially improved contract from 2025-26 and beyond.
Should any future balloting and subsequent industrial action be ordered by the membership, strict trade union laws apply around who can vote and the membership data we hold for them.
We’ve let poor national policies divide us for too long. The collective lobbying and individual benefits BMA membership gives you cannot be found elsewhere, and it’s high time we strengthened that and secured the best possible future for the next generations of GPs and general practice staff.
You can review our current subscription costs here. Our offers are always under review and we’re listening to feedback on the concessions available.
Please make sure you have updated your membership details. Civica will be notified of updated membership details at regular intervals, so you will receive your voting link email once they have the right details. If you need support updating your details, email [email protected].The BMA Membership Team is responding to enquiries on a daily basis. We will ensure you get your vote before the referendum closes at midday on 27 March.
Please make sure you have updated your membership details. Civica will be notified of updated membership details at regular intervals, so you will receive your voting email once they have the right details. If you still haven’t received your voting email after the next mail-out on Monday (11th March), complete this form.
Contract variation notices are just that. The imposed changes will come into effect after the specific notice period ends with or without a signature.
Pressures in general practice data analysis
The BMA monitors data on GP workforce, working patterns, and appointment numbers, which illustrates the growing pressures on general practice.
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