GPS could strike during election for first time
Head of the BMA says that family doctors may embark on collective action if they do not like their contracts
‘I can see that collective action playing out into the autumn and even into the winter’ ‘It is sad that the one part of the NHS that had not taken industrial action is being forced into this position’
GPS could walk out for the first time during an autumn election campaign, their union has signalled.
The head of the British Medical Association (BMA)’S GP committee said family doctors could embark on “collective action” if they do not like their next contract, currently under negotiation.
Dr Katie Bramall-stainer, the chairman of the union’s GP committee, said it was “sad” that the one part of the health profession that has not yet had walkouts now felt “forced” into considering action. A referendum will be put to the profession next month, which could lead to a formal ballot followed by “collective action” in the autumn, potentially as an election approaches.
The union has yet to see next year’s contract, but opposed the current one, which was then imposed.
Last year BMA members threatened to take industrial action in protest at the existing GP contract, which requires some surgeries to open on Saturdays. However, a ballot never went ahead.
While GPS could embark on all-out strikes, the majority of GPS are self-employed, making the prospect of walkouts unpalatable.
Discussions of industrial action have previously centred on options to “work to rule” or refuse to comply with particular tasks.
The majority of GPS are partners, with average annual earnings of £153,000, while most work a three-day week. But many GPS are unhappy with their workload and say practices need more funding.
Latest figures show record numbers of appointments were delivered by practices in November, with more than 31.4 million slots. Around four in 10 were directly delivered by GPS, with a sharp rise in the number of patients being seen by physician associates, nurses, pharmacists and paramedics, since the pandemic.
Dr Bramall-stainer said a referendum will now be put to GPS in the second week of February.
She told Pulse magazine that the outcomes “may lead” to the committee considering an indicative strike ballot for GPS in the spring and an indicative ballot in the spring.
“If NHS England and the Department of Health feel they must impose a contract that we don’t agree with from
April, and if an indicative ballot suggests that this is felt strongly enough by the profession, then I think we would have to move to a formal ballot after April,” she said.
Dr Bramall-stainer suggested strikes could take place in the run up to a general election. She said: “I can see that collective action playing out into the autumn, and even into winter. And of course, we know what’s happening in autumn and winter: a general election.
“’So if we are forced down this road, we will make access and protection of your local GP, in your family surgery, the doorstep conversation during the election campaign - which it needs to be, and it’s time we spelled it out to the public and called out what is happening to us as a profession.”
The committee is currently still in negotiations with the Government and NHS England over next year’s GP contract. The current five-year GP contract will come to an end in March.
Dr Bramall-stainer said “it is sad” that “the one part of the NHS” that has not taken industrial action felt it “is being forced into this position”.
She said primary care was not being properly funded.
“I think it will be a catastrophic failure on the part of colleagues in NHS England and the Department of Health, that they have not been able to convince [the] Treasury to come up with the required finances to make this safe and sustainable in this stepping stone year,” she said.
Asked why GPS might take action, Dr Bramall-stainer said doctors were concerned about “inadequate funding” for general practice which meant practices had been forced to stop recruitment and replacement of staff, despite record patient demand.