English GPs will go back into dispute with Government, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England from 1 October, the BMA has announced.
The BMA will also seek legal advice on the legality of opening up online requests throughout core hours without safeguards, it said.
Also at last week’s meeting of the GP Committee for England, the chair put in a confidence vote for the leadership of the GPCE, which was passed.
From 1 October, GPs need to keep online systems open for patient requests between 8am and 6.30pm for routine enquiries but the BMA is arguing that because the systems can’t tell the difference between routine and urgent, serious problems could be ‘lost inside the huge haystack of unmet patient need’.
The Government said the BMA had signed up to and GPs had agreed to this policy – however several LMCs had called for the BMA to re-enter dispute over the changes.
The BMA first went into dispute with the Government last year in protest against contractual terms and funding in England but paused collective action in March after accepting a GP contract deal for 2025/26.
GPCE chair Dr Katie Bramall accused the Government of ‘being prepared to risk patient safety, practice workforce wellbeing and GP retention’ over the October contract changes.
‘GPs have a track record of being the first to embrace and embed technology in the NHS so long as it’s safe and fit for purpose but imposing such changes on general practice, ignoring our repeated warnings will do the opposite of “bringing back the family doctor”, she said.
‘But all is not lost – we still have time in the coming days for Government to meet us halfway. We will explore all options, but I’m sure our patients and the profession would rather we find a resolution in the coming days. We want to work with the Government in delivering an NHS that we know is safe.’
According to our sister publication Pulse, Dr Bramall has now also written to health secretary Wes Streeting and primary care minister Stephen Kinnock, demanding that the Government pauses the upcoming contractual changes until ‘significant concerns’ around patient safety are addressed.
In the letter, seen by Pulse, Dr Bramall said: ‘Online systems currently cannot distinguish between non-urgent and urgent patient queries, so the safeguards agreed within the GMS contract must include an IT solution which mitigates urgent requests being submitted via routes intended for routine appointment requests.
‘We are seeking that you defer the contractual changes until this functionality is available from online consultation providers, or work with GPC England to seek a pragmatic compromise, e.g. permitting practices to have online access each day from 08:00, until an agreed later point in the day when the online consultation element of online access is diverted to walk-in and telephone contact, in order to be able to safely manage patient need until the practice closes at 18:30.’
The letter also mentions concerns around GP Connect allowing community pharmacy to send consultation summaries into the GP practice workflow, which had already been raised by the BMA and RCGP joint IT committee, and asks the Government to also pause this requirement, due to come in from 1 October.
Commenting on the dispute, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘The shift from analogue to digital is a key part our 10-Year Health Plan to help fix the front door of the NHS and in 2025, patients rightly expect to be able contact their GP online.
‘There are GP surgeries already successfully rolling out online appointment requests, showing it works for patients and practices. The BMA signed up to and agreed this policy with GPs, and we remain committed to wanting to work together to implement this as efficiently as possible.’
Earlier this month, the Institute of General Practice Management (IGPM) also urged NHS England and ICBs to pause GP contractual requirements around active triage of patient requests due to come into effect 1 October – until ‘safe working’ can be assured.
A version of this story was first published by our sister title Pulse
