The latest changes to the GP contract for 2025/26, as outlined by the BMA, are yet another disappointment for general practice. While the headline figures might suggest a significant investment, the reality is that this contract fails to address the deepening crisis in primary care. Instead of providing meaningful support to struggling practices, it adds complexity, increases workload, and shifts money around without solving the fundamental issues that GPs face every day.
The 2025/26 GP Contract: Another Blow to General Practice
The National Health Service (NHS) has long been considered one of the UK’s greatest achievements. Founded in 1948, it was built on the principles of universal healthcare, free at the point of use. However, in recent years, the NHS has faced mounting pressures, with declining performance, longer waiting times, underfunded infrastructure, and growing staff shortages. While domestic policies play a significant role in shaping the healthcare system, the broader context of global politics and economics cannot be ignored.
Since around 2010, the NHS has experienced what many analysts describe as a steady decline, largely attributed to underinvestment and misallocation of resources. But what caused this shift? To understand this, we need to examine the global events that shaped economic policy decisions in the UK, the government’s response to financial pressures, and how international factors—ranging from the 2008 financial crisis to Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic—created a perfect storm that left the NHS in a vulnerable position.
This article explores the ripple effects of global politics on the NHS, analysing the financial, political, and demographic factors that contributed to its challenges over the past decade and a half.
The Ripple Effects of Global Politics on the NHS: A Decade of Decline
To help ensure patients understand what to expect during their visit or stay, we are asking all practices to share the attached patient information leaflet. This leaflet outlines key details about their care journey and can help manage expectations, improve communication, and reduce misunderstandings. We encourage practices to print copies for distribution in the surgery, hand them directly to patients, email them, or send them via Accurx. You may wish to use mass messaging to reach a wider audience or target specific individuals who have been referred. Your support in sharing this information will help enhance patient experience and streamline care.
When it comes to shaping the future of the NHS, few voices carry as much weight as Professor Ara Darzi. A world-renowned surgeon, researcher, and health policy expert, Darzi has spent years advocating for smarter, more efficient, and patient-centered healthcare. With reports that he is drafting a 10-year plan for the NHS, we might not expect radical surprises—but we can certainly expect a roadmap that builds on what we already know works. So, what might be in it?
The Future of the NHS: What Might Ara Darzi’s 10-Year Plan Look Like?
Doncaster Local Medical Committee has developed a new patient-facing poster to help reduce stress and workload for GP practices regarding requests to expedite hospital appointments.
Many patients ask their GP for letters to speed up their hospital appointments, but GPs do not have the authority to influence hospital waiting times. Hospitals manage their own appointment schedules based on clinical urgency.
The poster is designed to:
✅ Educate patients on why GPs cannot alter hospital waiting lists.
✅ Encourage patients to only request letters if their symptoms have changed significantly.
✅ Reinforce the importance of keeping hospitals informed of worsening symptoms to ensure appropriate treatment.
✅ Reduce unnecessary administrative burden on GP practices, allowing them to focus on patient care.
We encourage all practices to display this poster in waiting areas, on websites, and on social media to help manage patient expectations. By doing so, we can ensure that GP time is used efficiently and that hospitals are prioritising care appropriately.
Please find an opportunity for those we may be interested in responding in their professional capacity to a Call for Evidence on PEOLC.
The Commission on Palliative and End-of-Life Care will seek to identify the current strengths and significant shortfalls in provision and the barriers that exist in the current systems of such care. It will look at the relationship between specialist palliative care services and generalist services.
Follow the link for me details. Commission on Palliative and End-of-Life Care It is a short questionnaire.
Deadline is 28th March.
The Hidden Workload Study now has over 600 participants across over 350 practices, but we need more help!
We want to better understand the daily workload of all clinicians who work in general practice (doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physician associates, and all other allied health professionals) and explore the large amount of work that you do other than seeing patients in planned consultations. Participants simply record all the work they do on a single allocated workday using a simple form in March/April 2025.
Four reasons to join The Hidden Workload Study
To join The Hidden Workload Study, or to find out more, please go to www.gppact.org/the-hidden-workload-study.
Recruitment closes on 28/03/2025
The SY workforce and training hub in collaboration with SY LMCs are setting up a scheme of education and support for new GP partners. This is an exciting time in a GPs career but it is also recognised that it can be very challenging time too. The Hub want to help new partners to thrive. Please go the SYWTHub website for more detailed information and to express an interest in joining the scheme.
The following information has been supplied by DR Solicitors – Further information can be obtained by contacting them or your own solicitors
If you are a primary care professional who owns or has a share in the surgery premises, it is crucial that you understand not only how the property is held, but also ensure that ownership is documented correctly in a partnership agreement or a separate declaration of trust document. Failure to do so could have significant legal and financial implications.
Read on to understand how you may inadvertently trigger unwelcome Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) charges when partners buy into or out of the surgery and how to reduce the risk.
What’s the problem?
For various good tax and business reasons it is very common for GPs to want to hold their freehold surgery as a ‘partnership asset’. However the default position in law is that a property is owned personally by the individuals named on the title at the Land Registry, and it is NOT a partnership asset unless there is reliable evidence to demonstrate that it is. This evidence is usually in the form of a signed and dated deed or contract, such as a partnership agreement or declaration of trust.
It is not sufficient to rely on the partnership accounts as evidence of the premises being a partnership asset, as it is highly unlikely that this would stand up in court.
If you cannot prove that the premises are a partnership asset, then:
Identifying possible issues
There are many scenarios that could cast doubt on the premises being a partnership asset. Listed below are a few recent examples that we have come across – do you recognise any of them as applying to you?
How to protect yourself
Your partnership agreement and/or declaration of trust should include:
You may be tempted to put off addressing your poorly drafted partnership agreement until it is absolutely necessary, but you should be aware that rectification is rarely a quick process as there is registered property and a lot of money involved. It’s much better to fix any problems now, rather than when you are trying to complete a buy-in or buy-out with bank financing.
Also, if the property is not currently a partnership asset but you want it to be, consider making the change sooner rather than later. It takes three years after becoming a partnership asset for a surgery to be free of SDLT restrictions such that future transactions can benefit from the ‘intra-partnership exemption’. Smart succession planning makes the change in plenty of time.
How DR Solicitors can help
A great first port of call would be to reach out to us for a free partnership asset health check.
For more information or a free, no obligation call with one of the DR Solicitors team, please contact us. Tel: 01483 511555
The BMA recently announced a change in maternity leave for salaried GPs which extends the number of weeks for which half maternity pay can be received from 14 to 18 weeks, aligning this with the period of time parental reimbursement can be claimed under the Statement of Financial Entitlements [SFE] for GP locum cover during this period of absence. It also aligns the total period of maternity absence [8 weeks full pay, and now 18 weeks half pay] with that available to equivalent hospital-based doctors.
More information can be found on the BMA website Guidance on salaried GP maternity leave changes for employers and employees – Leave – BMA
The guidance offers advice on increasing Salaried GP maternity leave pay, links to several resources and contains FAQs covering the following areas:
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has released an online service for the SR1 form Send medical evidence to support a benefit claim made with the Special Rules for end of life (SR1 form) – Send an SR1 medical evidence form – GOV.UK .
Healthcare professionals can support a patient’s benefit claim made with the Special Rules The ‘Special Rules’: how the benefit system supports people nearing the end of life – GOV.UK by completing an SR1 form. Once submitted, this tells the DWP that a patient might be eligible for financial support as they may have less than 12 months to live.
The service aims to:
Doncaster LMC is been a member of the LMC Buying Groups Federation. This means that practices can access the discounts the Buying Group has negotiated on a wide range of products and services. If you’re not sure what the Buying Group is all about then this short video explains what they do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FekMwFI5ILg.
By registering with the Buying Group: www.lmcbuyinggroups.co.uk/members/, you can view all the suppliers’ pricing, contact details and request quotes. The Buying Group also offers any member practice a free cost analysis which demonstrates how much money your practice could save just by swapping to buying group suppliers. Tel: 0115 979 6910 Email: info@lmcbuyinggroups.co.uk Website: www.lmcbuyinggroups.co.uk
