GPs in Northern Ireland have rejected a 2025/26 GMS contract offer put forward by the Department of Health, with the BMA saying it’s not enough to ‘stabilise or save general practice’.
In a BMA referendum that took place earlier this month, an overwhelming 99.6% of GPs who took part voted to reject the deal. A clear majority of 89% also said they would be willing to take collective action if a better offer was not presented.
BMA Northern Ireland said the offer, worth an extra £9.5m, consisted of an additional £1millon put into core funding, £5m for indemnity and £3.5m expected to cover National Insurance hikes.
However, in negotiations the union has been asking for the Department to agree a 1% uplift in the core GP contract, full indemnity for all GPs and full cost recovery for the increase in National Insurance contributions.
BMA Northern Ireland GP committee chair Dr Frances O’Hagan said the referendum result is ‘extremely clear’ that GPs in Northern Ireland do not think this offer ‘is enough to stabilise or save general practice’.
She added: ‘In our negotiations we asked the Department for a credible financial investment in general practice, one that will help stabilise the service, keep GPs in post and stem the tide of contract handbacks which means more practices in every town in Northern Ireland could be at risk of closing, but the Department has not listened.
‘What they have offered is an additional £1millon into core funding, a paltry additional 0.01% of the overall health budget. The £5 million offered for indemnity will not fully cover the costs GPs incur and which they propose to restrict to GP partners only, and a contribution to the increased national insurance costs may not be enough to cover the actual cost to GPs.’
Dr O’Hagan also said they had agreed to work with the Department on patient access but that the proposals it has set out won’t ‘create a single extra appointment for patients’ but instead generate ‘more bureaucracy for GP surgeries, taking staff away from dealing directly with patient queries’.
She added: ‘We had agreed to work with the Department on access, to try and get a better understanding on what data they have on perceived access issues, but they refused to agree to work collaboratively with us to co-produce a set of proposals that might actually help GPs and patients.’
The BMA is urging the Department of Health and health minister to come back to the negotiating table with a ‘credible offer’ and is seeking a meeting,so they can work together on a solution.
Dr O’Hagan further explained: ‘As part of the referendum we also asked GPs if they were willing to take further, collective action if a better offer was not presented, and 89% of respondents indicated that they would be willing to do this. We will continue to engage and consult with GPs as this process progresses.’
Health minister Mike Nesbitt said that the offer, still on the table, includes £9.5m ‘additional funding’ and was ‘at the absolute limit of what is achievable this year’.
He said: ‘I am disappointed the BMA GP negotiators recommended this outcome to their members and have to respectfully ask what this will achieve.
‘I have met with BMA GP representatives on the 2025/26 contract and underlined the budgetary realities that I currently face this year. In short, there is a projected half billion pound plus shortfall between available monies and financial requirements across health and social care services.
‘Despite these challenges, a package of £9.5m additional funding is on offer to GPs. While I am determined to invest in and expand primary care going forward, this package is at the absolute limit of what is achievable this year. The package remains on the table.
‘The package includes funding to address the long standing issue of GP indemnity, as well as support in relation to increased National Insurance costs.
‘It also includes £1m for measures that would make a contribution to addressing the public’s very real concerns about access to GP services.’
A version of this article was first published by our sister title Pulse
