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 June 'UK Report on Jobs' shows subdued business confidence driving a preference for short-term staff. Temporary staff billings rose at the steepest rate in over three years, while permanent staff appointments continued to decline, although at a much slower pace than in May.
HMRC have proposed a new criminal offence for making reckless, untrue statements or declarations about what's known as 'direct taxes' - Income Tax, National Insurance and the like. For Customs and Excise and VAT ('indirect taxes'), it is already possible to prosecute individuals who make untrue statements or submit incorrect documents either knowingly or recklessly, without the need to prove dishonesty. The penalties for such offences can be severe, including substantial fines and imprisonment. The direct tax regime does not currently contain an equivalent offence.
.gif)