From today (Thursday, 17 September), the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee in England (GPCE) will postpone any further escalation of collective action in a joint effort to reset the relationship as they re-enter bilateral talks with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England (NHSE). 

Following the change in political leadership within the Government and GPCE earlier this year, the committee decided not to escalate collective action, giving the newly elected GPCE Officer team time to meet the new ministerial team and seek agreements that would reassure the profession and ultimately bring an end to the current dispute.

At today's committee meeting representatives expressed their dissatisfaction with the government's lack of commitment to negotiations and were very clear they expect to see substantive progress over the coming months. GPCE remains in dispute with the Government over the imposed national 2026/27 contract, which was rejected by 99% of almost 17,000 BMA GP members in the March 2026 referendum. Despite the pause in escalatory action, collective actions already in place will continue.

In talks with the Government GPCE will be seeking the following assurances: 

• To ensure safe patient services in every part of England, joint agreement of a roadmap towards an increase of £50 extra per person in General Practice funding within this Parliament. This additional investment is necessary to ensure consistent general practice services across the country and to reduce avoidable and costly 111 triaging, A&E attendances, hospital admissions/overstays and ambulance call outs. 
• Pause ongoing efforts to remove patients from practice lists until an agreement can be reached on how to reinvest the funding in core General Practice. 

BMA GPs committee chair for England Dr Clare Bannon said:  

“When I was elected to the position of chair, I promised I would aim to unite the committee behind a strategy that aims to improve the working lives of GPs across the profession and today’s move is the next step in that aim. We have a difficult road ahead of us - bringing together a fractured primary and wider care system - but those challenges can be overcome.  

“The committee has come together behind a shared strategy that allows us to reset the relationship with Government, moving away from the hostilities seen in recent years. We want to be in a place where robust discussion can be had, where disagreement is healthy, but ultimately, we find collective solutions through negotiation and compromise. 

“Going forward our focus will be on representing the interests of the profession, improving patient care, increasing patient funding and resolving the destabilising effects of registered patient list cleansing including patients being erroneously removed and left without a GP. This postponement won’t be a time for inaction, we will be preparing over the coming months to escalate if talks break down or insufficient progress is made. We hope it doesn’t come to that, but we owe it to our patients to ensure general practice in England is appropriately resourced and that the committee is prepared  to defend them.”

Notes to editors

1. GPC England, while remaining in formal dispute, agrees to temporarily postpone any further escalation of collective action by GPs in England; however, if insufficient progress is made in discussions at any point, the committee instructs its Officers to escalate collective action on 1st December 2026 or when it becomes apparent that talks have broken down, whichever is the earlier. 
a. For 
b. Against 
c. Abstain

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