A new deal for GPs has been agreed between the government and the British Medical Association (BMA).
Proposed reforms that were accepted by the BMA include an overall funding uplift of £889 million for the 2025/26 GMS contract. This represents a 7.2% boost to the contract, which is higher than the increase to the NHS budget as a whole. However, the BMA’s acceptance of the funding uplift was given on the proviso that the government commits to renegotiating a completely new national contract within this parliament. They are looking for confirmation of this in writing by mid March 2025.
The increase includes:
-Almost £800 million national funding into the ‘Global Sum’ to help cover the rising costs of staff, premises and patient list growth.
-The Primary Care Network rules will be relaxed, allowing individual practices to decide which roles to hire using their additional staff budgets rather than having this decided centrally.
-An increase to routine childhood vaccination fees.
In addition to the £889 million uplift, there will also be an £80 million investment for a new Enhanced Service that compensates GPs for advice and guidance requests when unsure about making a referral to hospital. This funding will allow doctors to liaise with specialist consultants and help to avoid people being added to waiting lists unnecessarily.
The BMA sees the new contract as an important first step for GPs as they aim to address underfunding over the next few years.
See: https://www.bma.org.uk/bma-media-centre/bma-accepts-202526-contract-for-gps-in-england-as-a-starting-point
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced a set of proposed measures aimed at increasing fairness, transparency and choice for businesses and consumers using Google’s search services in the UK.
Enterprises that pay business rates are being encouraged to check their current property valuation and make sure the details held by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) are correct.