On 20 December 2024, the government unveiled its proposals for the new GP contract for 2025/26. The proposals are currently being consulted upon by the British Medical Association’s General Practice Committee.
The highlight of the proposals is an additional £889 million ‘on top of the existing budget’ allocated to practices for the GMS contract and Network Contract DES in 2025/26, making this the ‘biggest investment into general practice and PCNs since the end of the five-year contract deal. Other notable proposals include:
- bringing back the ‘family doctor’ and incentivising GPs to ensure more patients see the same doctor at each appointment;
- cutting the ‘red tape’ in an attempt to ‘slash bureaucracy’, meaning GPs would have a reduction in unnecessary administrative burdens and can therefore focus on patient care; and
- the addition of practice nurses to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) as opposed to exclusively ‘enhanced’ practice nurses.
The proposals seem to reflect the sentiments of the report published by Lord Darzi in September 2024 which called for an increase in funding in general practice. Darzi also calls for a move away from secondary care into the community – a shift we are seeing brought into practice already with the recent announcement of additional funding for GPs undertaking advice and guidance with hospital specialists as part of a bid to bring down elective waiting lists. The government hopes this will help prevent ‘unnecessary referrals’ with more patients managed within primary care rather than secondary care.
The GP contract is predicted to be revealed in spring 2025. Although there are a lot of unknowns at this stage, particularly as to how the above proposals will be funded, on the surface the proposals will be positive news for general practice and patients. However, greater funding and employment opportunities can expose GPs and PCNs to increased liability. In advance of its reveal, we recommend ensuring that your partnership agreements and PCN network agreement schedules are fit for purpose, to ready both your practice and PCN for the new GP contract. In particular, you should ensure that your PCN has documented how your ARRS workforce and associated liabilities will be managed between the Core Network Practices and other members. Within your individual partnership agreements, you should ensure that you have documented how your practice’s share of any PCN liabilities will be shared between your partners.
If you would like specialist support in reviewing your network agreement schedules or partnership agreements, please contact a member of our Primary Care team.
For further information, please contact:
Helen Matthews, Hill Dickinson
helen.matthews@hilldickinson.com
