The BMA’s GP committee has reminded GP partners to urgently vote in the collective action ballot just days before it closes, as a ‘final push’ is needed to ‘secure essential leverage’ with the Government.
A message sent out by GPC England revealed that the turnout for the indicative ballot, which will close on Monday next week at midday, stood at just under 59% of eligible BMA members.
This falls below the ‘minimum turnout’ that would be required if it was a formal postal ballot for industrial action.
According to the message, 2,000 GP partner BMA members had not yet opened the ballot email which contained the voting link.
The message said: ‘We are at 58.89% turnout. If this were a formal postal ballot, we would need a minimum turnout of 60%.
’We really need a final push to secure essential leverage to make the most of a window of opportunity with the new Government.’
The GPC told members to ‘vote today’ as this will show the Government ‘the strength of feeling among GP contractors and partners’.
Depending on the results of the vote, the BMA is expected to coordinate GP collective action from 1 August.
In the ballot, GP partners are being asked if they are ‘prepared to undertake one or more examples of collective action’ as outlined in the BMA campaign to Protect Your Patients, Protect Your Practice.
As revealed by Pulse, the examples include refusing to engage in advice and guidance, limiting patient contacts to 25 a day per GP and declining to sign new contracts with NHS England or the local ICB.
The GPC said it is up to practices to choose which actions to take from the menu of actions and that it will be ‘inviting GP partners to work with their practice management team’ and with their LMC to determine the actions they will be willing to take’.
But GP practices can already begin to take this action, which will not breach their contracts according to the GPCE, and NHS England’s board heard yesterday that the system is ‘already starting to see tension’ as a result of practices ‘pulling back’ from doing discretionary work.
This week NHS England has warned ICBs and trusts to prepare for an impact on the whole system should practices decide to take collective action from next week.
It follows a referendum by the GPC which found that 99% of GPs did not agree with the recent contract imposition, as well as the committee officially declaring a ‘dispute’ with NHS England.
Wholly unsurprising———–we’re talking about G.Ps here
What is wrong with people how do they expect to change things without voting ! Irresponsible comes to mind
The BMA, the one-eyed drunk shepherd cluelessly watching its flock on the one hand while negotiating with the abbatoir for a good price with the other. Expect the BMA to blame Civica, the ballot turnout, GPs, the govt’s stance – everyone but themselves, when it all goes wrong.
The BMA system is extremely user unfriendly. People might want to vote but were taken to all sorts of sites except the voting one asking if your details are up to date.
It’s like herding cats!