The new deal agreed by the government and British Medical Association (BMA) will free up doctors from red tape and box-ticking targets to concentrate on treating patients.
Burdensome red tape on GPs will be reduced by scrapping unnecessary targets like those requiring practices to report on staff wellbeing meetings or to explain how they are reviewing staff access to IT systems. Under the new GP contract, nearly half of the targets - 32 of 76 - that GPs must report their progress against will be removed.
Patients will also gain clearer information about the care they can expect to receive through the online patient charter – including the services available to them – along with more consistent care as the government introduces measures bring back the family doctor. To make sure those most in need are prioritised, GPs will be incentivised to identify patients who would benefit most from seeing the same GP at every appointment, so more patients see their regular doctor each appointment.
In addition, GPs will be encouraged to seek specialist advice and guidance when unsure about making a referral to hospital. Up to £80m of funding will be made available for doctors to liaise with specialist consultants, which can avoid people being added onto waiting lists unnecessarily and speed up patient care.
Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, said: ‘This government is cutting the red tape that ties up GPs time and backing them with an extra £889m next year. In return, more patients will be able to request appointments online and see their regular doctor for each appointment. Through the Prime Minister's Plan for Change, we will work with GPs to rebuild the NHS and make it fit for the future.'
Dr Amanda Doyle, NHS England national director for primary care and community services, added: ‘I hope it will be seen as positive for practices, GP teams and patients when introduced in April.
‘It shows how NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care have listened and delivered on the priorities that matter most to patients and general practice teams, including a significant increase in funding and extra flexibility in the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme to recruit more staff including GPs.'
Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chair of the BMA's GP Committee for England (GPCE), said: ‘This agreed uplift to our annual contract sees the first step on the road to recovery of rebuilding general practice across England. However, GPCE has been clear, we have shown that we want to work in good faith with this Government and build on this new beginning – what we now need is certainty about our collective future.
'We know the Treasury will be announcing its funding plans for this Parliament and its 10-year plan for the NHS later this spring, and we need to see a new substantive GP practice contract for England in the upcoming comprehensive spending review. This is how Government can put its words into action and bring back the family doctor, fix the front door of the NHS, and shift resource from a hospital focus towards care closer to home within the community at your local surgery.
'We hope the Government seizes this once in a generation opportunity and repays the trust we are placing in them to do the right thing by England's GPs, and by their patients.'
Reaction
Ruth Rankine, primary care director at the NHS Confederation, said: 'General practice is facing record levels of demand, so measures to cut red tape such as reducing the number of targets and increase the time clinicians can spend with patients will be welcomed by our members. Allowing patients to request appointments online throughout the day will ensure that we are implementing modern general practice and using a range of channels to manage demand in the most appropriate way.
'We hope the fact that the British Medical Association and government have agreed these proposals will be an important step to bringing collective action to a close. This is a useful first step on the journey of reform and our members look forward to continuing to support the Government's agenda.'
Nuffield Trust director of research and policy and practising GP, Dr Becks Fisher, said: ‘Patients, GPs and their teams desperately want improvements to general practice. This contract offers a glimmer of hope.
‘This is the first time in years that a contract has been agreed mutually rather than imposed on the profession by the government. Today marks the end of collective action by GPs, signalling a real shift in relations between the profession and Government.
‘However, this contract alone does not solve many of the huge challenges that remain in general practice. There is still a long way to go to restore patient satisfaction with GP services, to attract and retain GPs and to improve the premises they're practising from.
‘For too long, general practice has been underfunded. A decent chunk of the 7.2% uplift announced today will be swallowed up by increases in Employer National Insurance Contributions. But government is making good on commitments to boost the proportion of NHS funding going to general practice, and GPs will welcome the direction of travel.
‘An important next step will be to address the unfair distribution of funding between richer and poorer areas, which has been a long-standing problem with the current GP funding formula.'
