GPCE’s vision for general practice – ‘Patients First’ Campaign

The BMA’s “Patients First” campaign focuses on addressing the critical underfunding and workforce challenges in GP practices across England. It calls for urgent investment by 2025/26 to prevent worsening patient access, GP shortages, and declining care standards. The campaign advocates for better funding to safeguard the future of general practice and ensure sustainable, high-quality care.

‘Patients First: Why general practice is broken & how we can fix it’ details the essential changes that need to happen to stop the loss of local practices, to retain experienced NHS GPs in their surgeries, and to fund practices to take on more GPs and more practice nurses to deliver more appointments.

We focus on:

firstly, what patients need right now, without the need for additional funding
next, what is needed in the NHS 10-year plan and in 2025/26 to stabilise collapsing GP services for patients, and
beyond that, for the Government to work in partnership with us to secure a new deal for GP practices across England which will deliver what patients need within this Parliament.

Increasing investment

Our additional ask of 11p per patient per day for essential services in 2025/26, increasing current investment from £112.50 to £152.50 per year, will stabilise GP practices and buy us time to secure a new contract fit for the future to deliver:

More GPs and more practice nurses
Stability to stop the NHS GP ‘brain drain’
Essential continuity of care to reduce hospital referrals and emergency admissions
Essential overdue investment in general practice services across England
Fair pay and conditions for the whole practice-employed team

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