GP collective action in England: Current situation and public messaging

What is happening?
On 1 August 2024, the British Medical Association (BMA) General Practitioners Committee England (GPCE) announced that General Practitioners (GPs) in England have voted to take collective action in their dispute with NHS England over the national 2024/25 GP contract.
Collective action means that GPs may stop or reduce certain work but will continue to see patients.
Patients should continue to contact their practice for their health needs.

What actions are GP going to take?
The duties of GPs are set out in a national contract. The dispute raised by the BMA centres on tasks they believe go beyond the obligations funded through this contract. The BMA has proposed ten potential actions that GPs could take as part of the collective action. These actions are designed to ensure that GPs do not breach their
contractual obligations. It is likely that collective action will be different across local areas and the impact will vary from area to area.

The ten suggested actions that GPs could take are:
 Cap appointments: Limit patient contacts to 25 per day. Once the limit is
reached, then patients could be direct to urgent care or other healthcare
services.
 Only use e-Referral Advice and Guidance if it's clinically helpful.
 Stop any unpaid services that fill gaps in local commissioning and prioritise
your practice’s needs.
 Refer as needed: Make necessary referrals investigations, and admissions
based on clinical need. Use professional letters instead of local forms.
 Switch off GPConnect Update Record function which allows third-party providers to update GP records.
 Withdraw from data sharing agreements that don’t directly benefit patient
care in primary care.
 Avoid signing up for new data-sharing deals.
 Turn off Medicines Optimisation software: Disable any software that
focuses on cost-saving rather than patient care.
 Delay signing off on new digital systems like better phone systems or
online request tools until further guidance is provided.
 Avoid joining new NHS England pilot programs during this action period.

What impact is it GP collective action having in Somerset?
Somerset GPs have been working hard to manage a 25% increase in appointments since 2019. They continue to see many patients on the same day (currently 43% of appointments take place on day of booking), with 54% of appointments being face-to-face.

As of August 13, 2024, NHS Somerset has not seen any major changes in the usual service provided by our GPs. We are keeping a close eye on the situation, with daily updates on urgent care and frontline healthcare services in our area. We have established an incident co-ordination group with representatives from the whole healthcare system.
Currently we hold bi-weekly meetings with Somerset Local Medial Committee, the representative committee for GPs and GP practices in Somerset. This ensures that we can work collectively, in an open and honest way, to discuss any issues and actions local GPs might take and what mitigations might need to be put in place. This could include bolstering the workforce in other areas of the system, such as our Urgent Treatment Centres.

How long will this action go on for?
Collective action is not the same as industrial action and does not require a formal notification period, nor is it confined to specific dates. It is likely that collective action will be different across local areas and the impact will
vary from area to area. It is unlikely to be short term and may last for a long period of time.

What is being done to resolve the dispute?
General Practice in Somerset is very much valued and appreciated. However, this is a national dispute and is not something that NHS Somerset can resolve at a local level. We know the pressures on practice teams are immense, and we have acted locally to support primary care through an additional £1.5m investment this year through the New Funding Framework.

Key messages for patients
 GP services remain open, please contact your practice as normal if you have a healthcare need.
 Unless you are contacted by your GP surgery, you should still attend any planned GP appointments.
 If you think you need medical help right now, 111 online can tell you what to do next. This service is available 24/7. Visit NHS 111 Online or call 111.
 Collective action means that the impacts will vary at different GP practices and area by area. Please check your GP surgery website or social media channels for any updates.
 For details of all the other healthcare services in Somerset that are also here to support you please visit: nhssomerset.nhs.uk/gp-collective-action/
 NHS Somerset is working hard to plan for disruption and to mitigate this where possible.