A majority of general practitioners in England would consider withdrawing services in protest against the government’s failure to increase funding for their practices.
Nearly a third (31%) of GP partners, doctors who run their own practices, would consider taking collective action in the form of shutting routine services for one week if funding is not significantly increased for 2024-25.
The survey of 362 GP partners in England by the general practice publication Pulse revealed an appetite among GPs to follow consultants and junior doctors in taking some form of action.
Junior doctors walked out for five days this month while consultants followed suit with a 48-hour strike last week.
The survey showed that 54% of GPs would consider shutting routine services for a day; 51% would consider lowering thresholds for referral to secondary care; 46% would consider undated resignations; and 61% would consider diverting all “on-the-day”/urgent cases to 111 or A&E.
NHS strikes
Junior doctors in Scotland suspend strike amid record pay offer
Negotiations for the 2024-25 GP contract in England are set to begin soon, following what the British Medical Association (BMA) has described as the “unsafe and insulting” 2023-24 GP contract.
The government has refused to increase the uplift beyond the 2.1% agreed as part of the five-year deal, despite increases in the cost of living.
Inflation (measured by the consumer prices index) in June 2023 stood at 7.9%, but hovered at 10%-11% for nine consecutive months until March 2023.
In April, GPs in England voted overwhelmingly to ballot for industrial action if “disastrous” changes to their working contract, which they say threaten patient safety, are not reviewed in the coming months.
The vote took place at an emergency meeting of the BMA’s general practitioners committee on 27 April, with 98% of members voting in favour to begin the process of entering into a dispute – beginning with preparations for an indicative ballot in the coming months if the government fails to negotiate a new contract that is “fit for purpose”.
Legal experts have said GPs are able to take strike action and withdrawing services for a day is an option on the table, although any action would come at a significant cost to surgeries, as they would still need to pay staff while having their funding removed.
Surrey GP Pete Deveson told Pulse: “I would be delighted to join my junior and consultant colleagues in industrial action to improve the pay and conditions of NHS doctors if such action could be effectively co-ordinated by the BMA.”
But others said striking would only add to GPs’ workloads and expressed concern about potential legal implications.
One anonymous GP said: “I’d be concerned about any walkout causing paused payments or fines, affecting practice income. We would be in a precarious financial position in this scenario.”
In a speech this month, Philip Banfield, BMA chair of council, said: “GPs in England are beginning the process of entering dispute – starting with preparations for an indicative ballot in the coming months if the UK government fails to negotiate a new contract that is fit for purpose. Imposition is not negotiation.”
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He added: “At this rate, the whole of the medical profession will be in dispute at the next general election. The tragedy is that, with access to a Treasury that could easily fund full pay restoration across the four nations, the UK government persists in its denial of a workforce crisis.”
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