UK GP leaders to vote on linking contract funding to inflation

That conference is deeply concerned about the ongoing failure by governments to adequately invest in general practice services, as highlighted by the Kings Fund Report of February 2024, and:
(i) calls for a recognition and public acknowledgement of the impact that this is having on our patients’ ability to access GP services
(ii) believes that the current system of adjusted GP capitation payments has failed to account for demand and activity per patient over the years
(iii) condemns the approach of investing into short-term piecemeal schemes, with complex funding systems, which has prevented long-term planning and investment into the general practice workforce
(iv) instructs the GPCs to determine what ‘reasonable provision’ means in terms of the funding we are given to deliver GMS
(v) demands that GP contracts provide for an automatic uplift in funding to cover inflationary pressures, along similar lines as the state pension “triple lock”, including but not limited to pay recommendations issued by DDRB and / or government, changes to the National Living Wage, and increases in practice running costs.

That conference wishes for our governments to offer GMS contracts that have been agreed by negotiation and:
(i) demands that a GMS contract amendment can only be imposed on general practice at time of national emergency and not when negotiations prove difficult
(ii) believes that UK governments have failed to provide the necessary investment to ensure the survival of GMS
(iii) believes that being prepared to walk away may be more effective than industrial action
(iv) mandates the GPCs to develop viable alternatives to GMS, including actively supporting GP practices to work outside the NHS
(v) empowers the GPCs to use the threat of mass resignation to improve the NHS offer to practices.

That conference believes in the value of appropriate continuity of care and calls on GPC UK and RCGP to collaborate on tools for measuring continuity and develop possible contractual solutions that provides payments to general practice teams for work that supports continuity of care for each devolved nation to debate and adopt if appropriate.

That conference is appalled at the lack of adequate ADHD and other neurodiversity services across the NHS, with demand for services continuing to rise sharply, impacting on GP workload. We call upon on the GPCs to work with and lobby relevant stakeholders to:
(i) fund and commission comprehensive local NHS ADHD and other neurodiversity services, delivered by appropriately trained and regulated clinicians, with the responsibility for initiating, monitoring, prescribing, and titrating any medications prescribed
(ii) ensure that no GP is expected to take over responsibility of ADHD medication prescribing or monitoring without a shared care agreement and appropriate funding to facilitate any required monitoring
(iii) provide support to GPs who do not feel comfortable facilitating shared care agreements for prescribing ADHD medications following an assessment that they do not feel has been conducted to a suitable standard
(iv) produce clear patient resources to explain NHS ADHD services and the role of GPs in ongoing prescribing, where felt appropriate, under shared care agreements
(v) allow patients to self-refer to NHS ADHD and other neurodiversity services, without the requirement to consult their GP.

That conference believes general practitioners working in urgent care or out of hours settings should, when adequately funded by commissioners, be engaged on terms which:
(i) include paid time for handling any complaints, significant event analyses, inquests and service-specific mandatory training
(ii) honour the pay awards recommended by the DDRB, with appropriate backdating when needed
(iii) allow income to be superannuated in the NHS pension scheme without reduction in the gross rate of pay
(iv) provide holiday entitlement when engaged as a worker or employee in keeping with other NHS employees rather than the statutory legal minimum

That conference recognises the increasing incidence of aggressive, threatening and violent incidents occurring in general practice and:
(i) demands that the criteria for inclusion in violent patient schemes should be relaxed
(ii) calls on all UK governments to ensure that the funding for violent patient schemes is uplifted to provide appropriate resource
(iii) mandates GPC UK to lobby governments for more severe sanctions for perpetrators

That conference has significant concerns about visible reduction in the representation of GPs within the BMA over the last two years, including changes to procedures for electing representatives to the 2024 BMA Annual Representative Meeting, and:
(i) believes that with the exception of the GPCs, the BMA no longer adequately represents all GPs
(ii) calls upon the GPC UK to consider GP relevant motions passed at ARM, but not to enact them unless they are consistent with UK LMC conference policy
(iii) requires the GPCs to analyse the evolving political movements in other branches of practice so that they may be better understood, learned from and that GPs can be appropriately protected from any conflicts of interest
(iv) calls on GPC UK to explore options regarding improving and safeguarding GP representation within the BMA, to prevent decisions about general practice being made by a body in which GPs are a minority
(v) requires GPC UK, GPDF and NIGPDF to explore and, if viable, enact and fund GP trade union representation independent of the BMA, whilst retaining close links with secondary care colleagues.

Source: BMA