Briefing on GP Contract 2022/23 - message from Dr Michelle Drage
Thursday 10 March 2022
Dear Colleagues,
Briefing on GP Contract 2022/23
As you will now be aware, despite lengthy negotiation no agreement was reached on changes to the national contract for 2022/23. Negotiations between NHS England and GPC England were part of the five year ‘deal’ agreed in 2019 and on 1 April we will enter year four of that deal. Despite the challenges we have all faced over the past two years there has been no willingness from government, or its agency NHS England, with whom the GPC negotiates, to address any of the severe issues for GPs that have arisen during the pandemic - for them it is as if nothing has happened. A five year deal is a five year deal. And so the contract has been amended and imposed on the profession. You can see our comments and thoughts on the measures contained in the new contract update here:
This contract update has been forced on general practice despite the unparalleled success of the Covid vaccination programme; record-breaking appointments being delivered to patients; extraordinary workforce constraints, and workload concerns. Similarly global events and the stress of the current geopolitical threat resulting in migrants and asylum seekers reaching our shores in need of general practice care have not led to any change in approach.
In recent weeks we have seen an increase in GP-bashing in the media. One article in particular in the Sunday Times (not one of the usual suspects) has increased anxiety amongst our colleagues with bold statements about vertical integration and the future of general practice. Whether this is an innocent article, albeit raising the prospect of an existential threat to general practice as we know it (not just the partnership model, but the very philosophy of continuity care, holistic, relational and longitudinal), or kite flying and deliberate dis-information designed to make us feel threatened, there is a pattern developing of public facing messaging framing GPs as indolent, incompetent, or inconvenient.
The same week we saw NHS England unilaterally impose contract changes on general practice, right-leaning think tank Policy Exchange published a new report with a proposal to reform general practice and enable digital healthcare at scale, challenging the independent contractor model. It is unclear whether this represents Secretary of State for Health, Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP's “Independent Review of General Practice”, but Mr Javid wrote a warm foreword. Time will tell whether this is an innocent albeit “wonky” kite, or a vision of things to come. You decide. Both are nasty.
Regardless of what Ministers, think tanks or commentators think, one thing is clear: your elected LMC members are here to represent you and the Londonwide team are on your side. Please continue to let us know your thoughts on what this means for you, your practice, and your profession.
With best wishes
Dr Michelle Drage MBBS FRCGP
CEO, Londonwide LMCs
Patient Access service update - proxy access now available (16 Jul 2019)
Patient Access have recently updated their service to allow proxy access. Proxy access is designed for those who need to use the service on behalf of someone else; this...NHS England premises policy review and NAO report on NHSPS (16 Jul 2019)
On 27 June, NHS England published its premises policy review. The full document is available here. The accompanying NHS England board paper summarises the review’s proposals as follows:NHS England board meeting 27 June 2019 (16 Jul 2019)
The NHS England board meeting on 27 June discussed various aspects of primary care and notable points included: The NHS Standard Contract now require community health services to be...Response to “Digital-First Primary Care” consultation on patient registration, funding and contracting rules (16 Jul 2019)
Responding to the consultation on amendments to the out of area registration rules and other measures intended to support and develop the “Digital First Primary Care” model as outlined in...Primary Care Networks (PCN) update – July 2019 (16 Jul 2019)
The start of this month saw the deadline for primary care networks to be finalised with CCGs. There have been a number of developments since our last newsletter: PCN process...Digital Roundtable event and practice nurse Action Learning Set (16 Jul 2019)
On 3 July we hosted a Digital Roundtable for IT leads and practice managers. Speakers included representatives from the Primary Care Digital Transformation team at NHS England and our own...New Introduction to Practice Finance module for practice managers (16 Jul 2019)
We are pleased to announce our new practice finance module will be going live from September 2019. The module provides a vital update for practice managers looking to improve their...Dr Michelle Drage awarded BMA Medal (16 Jul 2019)
On 26 June at the BMA Annual Representative Meeting in Belfast, Dr Michelle Drage, our Chief Executive, was awarded the Association Medal in recognition of her “distinguished service to the...Viewpoint: LGBT are you in or out? (05 Jul 2019)
Ahead of the London Pride March, Richard Watson, Analytical Manager for the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) looks at inclusivity in the NHS and wider community. Working on the NHS...MWord 40 (20 Jun 2019)
Guidance
We provide expert guidance for practices in our guidance section, as well as an archive of other materials you may find useful.
GP Support
Contact our GP Support team if you need help or advice.
The team provide professional and pastoral support to GPs and practice teams on a broad range of issues.
follow us on...
