EXCLUSIVE The Institute of General Practice Management (IGPM) has been invited by the Government to have an official role in the negotiation of the GP contract for 2026/27, it has been confirmed.
Last week it emerged that the Government is overhauling the way it decides the terms of the GP contract in England and ending the BMA’s role as sole negotiator of contract terms for the next financial year.
It was initially announced that the group of stakeholders to form part of the consultation with NHS England, included the RCGP, the National Association of Primary Care (NAPC), Healthwatch England, National Voices and the NHS Confederation.
However, in an urgent letter sent to NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), the IGPM warned that while ‘hearing more voices from across primary care and from patients is the right direction’ in negotiations, it was concerned that one vital group is missing from the table – practice and PCN managers.
IGPM directors told health secretary Wes Streeting, primary care minister Stephen Kinnock, and NHS England primary care director Dr Amanda Doyle, as well as the groups already being consulted, that practice managers now run ‘complex organisations that deliver frontline NHS services to millions of patients’. In addition, they pointed out that one in 10 practices in England have a practice manager partner or contract holder who carry legal responsibility for the GMS or PMS contract and should therefore be involved in discussions on how it is delivered.
The directors further stated that that practice manager and PCN teams lead the operational running of general practice every day and provide the connection between policy, workforce, finance and patient experience.
The letter said involving the IGPM in discussions ‘would bring operational knowledge, system awareness and a focus on patient and workforce experience. Decisions about the running of general practice will always be stronger and more grounded when the people who run general practice and PCNs are in the room.’
It added: ‘It is difficult to see how any meaningful contract change can be achieved without the people who understand how practices and PCNs work operationally and financially’.
As a result, IGPM directors were informed late last week by the DHSC that it was formally invited to be a named stakeholder as part of the next round of GP contract discussions.
Announcing the decision to members, directors Kay Keane (who is also chair), Robyn Clark, Adrian Down, Ceri Chaplin and Ed Kennedy said they were ‘delighted to support this important consultation and to put forward the views of our members’.
They added: ‘We have campaigned tirelessly for five years to ensure the voice of practice and PCN management teams is not only heard but recognised as essential to designing workable and sustainable primary care services. We are pleased that this operational expertise is now being included in future planning’.
Kay Keane, chair of the IGPM added that it was an ‘important moment for our profession’.
She told Management in Practice: ‘Practice and PCN management teams hold a unique place in the NHS, bringing both the strategic view of how services need to work and the day to day leadership that keeps practices running safely.
‘What matters most now is making sure the views and experiences of our members shape what we take forward. They are the people delivering the contract every day, and their insight is vital. We will share the consultation details with our members as soon as we can and invite them to feed in, so that we can represent them with confidence and clarity’.
NHS England has said the consultation on next year’s GP contract is due to begin in the coming weeks.
