Following extensive negotiations, the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee Wales has reached an agreement for the GMS (General Medical Services) contract with Welsh Government and NHS Wales. The final deal, covering the current 2025-26 financial year and elements of 2026-27, was announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care on Friday 12 December.
The agreement, backed unanimously by committee members will see £41.9m of investment for 2025-26. This will be backdated to April 2025 includes the full 4% pay uplift for GP partners, salaried GPs and practices staff, and an expenses uplift which provides practices with much needed stability in the face of rising costs.
Furthermore, the package also contains a recurrent uplift of 5.8% to the contract for 2026-27 (approx. £30m), to enable practices to play a central role in the NHS Wales transformation agenda with investment earmarked for additional workforce, service transformation, and administrative support. This does not preclude further investment following the consideration by the Welsh Government of the DDRB’s recommendations for 2026.
Work will continue to take forward the commitments reached during the negotiations 2026-27 and beyond, including the role of GPs in the ‘Community by Design’ transformation programme, and scoping a long-awaited review of the Global sum funding allocation formula.
Dr Gareth Oelmann chair of GPC Wales said:
“After extensive negotiations, we are pleased to have reached an improved and credible settlement. This agreement begins to address the significant pressures facing surgeries and recognises the hard work and dedication of GPs across Wales.
“We hope this settlement brings stability to practices for this current year and provides some certainty ahead of the 2026 Senedd elections. We believe it helps ensure a sustainable future for doctors and practice staff who work tirelessly to care for their communities.
“Although we aimed to reach an agreement sooner, we hope colleagues understand the delay. Throughout negotiations, we highlighted the significant financial challenges facing general practice in order to secure a better settlement. This agreement ensures proper investment in the contract for the next financial year.
“This deal is a positive step towards restoring years of underinvestment. Through our Save Our Surgeries campaign, we remain committed to securing a greater proportion of NHS investment for general practice. This will improve services and expand the GP workforce, which is urgently needed in Wales.”
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