GPC England's LMC Update: 17 April 2025

Dear colleagues

Local collective action: stay safe, stay organised, stay united

GPC England’s national dispute with Government is now over, following the acceptance of the 2025/26 contract agreement. However, the importance of local collective action to resolve ongoing commissioning gaps continues and indeed should be ramped up. The role of your LMC in this and pressurising your ICB to resource what has been unfunded work up to now are vital. Read the latest local collective action guidance on our GP campaign page >

Our safe working guidance continues to be GPC England policy and is regularly updated. Newly planned 2025/26 contractual asks, such as patient access to e-consultations for routine care as well as requesting fit notes or medication queries, do not mean GP practices must offer unlimited capacity that jeopardises patient or staff safety. The safe working guidance includes template letters which help practices manage workload and limit capacity to deliver safe, high-quality care.

We also feel it is important to state that you do not need to turn on ‘GP Connect Update Record’ which the vast majority of you turned off last summer. We have heard some ICBs are telling GPs to turn it on – this is wrong. It is an area we are having ongoing discussions with Government in the coming months, and we will issue more guidance ahead of the proposed ‘switch on’ for 1 October 2025.

I know many of you are asking questions about the new Advice and Guidance Enhanced Service and we will be issuing guidance on this very soon. You can read the NHSE guidance here. If you use A&G then you are eligible to claim the fee from April 1 2025 so it is important to keep a tally of those done and submit claims each month as per the guidance. We will cover more of this in our guidance document.

All colleagues are encouraged to read GPC England’s guidance on the 2025/26 contract changes, where additional related guidance will be added in the coming days and weeks.

Thank you for all your hard work day-to-day in your practice and we will continue to push for the investment we need in general practice to once again make it fit for purpose and a place to enjoy working in.

Dr David Wrigley

GPC England deputy chair

dwrigley@bma.org.uk

Prescribing/dispensing update

We wish to highlight two prescribing areas we are planning to develop guidance for over the next few weeks/months:

Inclisiran

NHS England has updated its guidance for Inclisiran, specifically:

· Inclisiran purchased at £45 and reimbursed at £60 (profit uplift of £5 - > £15)

· secondary care restrictions removed

· offered to community pharmacy as well as GPs.

There is existing joint RCGP/BMA guidance for Inclisiran and we plan to update this, following the above update and the changes to QOF within the 2025/26 GP contract.

Tirzepatide

Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) for weight management has been approved by NICE for delivery within primary care by 23 June 2025. NHS England has delegated this responsibility to individual ICBs, and GPC England has not been consulted about this. We are clear that prescribing for weight management is not part of GP essential services and this activity must be accompanied with the additional funding. We will share more guidance when funding mechanisms are clearer.

Use of patient data

You may have seen reports in the Guardian this week about preparations being underway to allow the transfer of GP data to organisations like Biobank for research studies. NHS England and the Department of Health are considering repurposing the dataset, designed for pandemic planning and research, to enable the GP data of those patients who have given explicit consent to be passed over to organisations like Biobank. NHS England will assure the consent processes and will assume liability for any flows of data, should a Data Direction and suitable Data Provision Notice be forthcoming. We have been clear that patients who may already be enrolled in these programmes are able to opt out, should they withdraw their consent, without increasing GP workload.

Separately to this, we have been in positive discussions with the Department of Health and NHS England on the forthcoming extension of OpenSAFELY to non-COVID purposes. OpenSAFELY is unique in the sense the most disclosive GP data remains in situ in the system suppliers' systems and the analyses take place there. We will share more news on the progress of OpenSAFELY in due course.

PCN DES CAIP component – “simpler online requests”.

Our guidance on CAIP (Capacity and Access Improvement Payment) has been updated and is available here: Primary care network funding

GP Contract Webinars 2025

All colleagues are invited to hear the GPC England Officer team discuss the detail of the changes in the GP Contract and its funding for 25/26. After the presentation there will be time for Q&As.

· Wednesday 23 April 19:00-21:00 Register here

· Thursday 24 April 12:30-14:30 Register here

Read more about the contract changes, our advice and the webinars: GP contract 2025/26 changes

LMC UK Conference Agenda

The LMC UK conference will be held on 8 and 9 May at the 'Scottish Event Campus', Glasgow.

The agenda: 'The GP unemployment paradox' has now been published, and further information is available >

Rotational training survey

The BMA, as part of the pay offer to English Resident Doctors, has agreed to undertake a review into rotational training with the UK Government. Additionally, the BMA is in discussions regarding reforms of rotational training in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that are separate to this review. Rotational training is the current form of training whereby resident doctors ‘rotate’ between trusts/health boards and, in many cases, employers across their training programme.

In order to ensure the BMA can achieve the best possible reforms to the system, we are asking GPs who are educational/ clinical supervisors to respond to some questions about the role. The survey will ask about the rotational training system from your view as an educational clinical supervisor for rotating doctors, which will inform how we can deliver substantive, useful changes.

The survey will close at 5pm on Tuesday 22 April. Please find the link to the survey here.

BMA’s Patient Liaison Group (PLG) Virtual Symposium

Wednesday 30 April 2025, 9:30 — 13:30

Online via Microsoft Teams

Please register here: https://events.bma.org.uk/plg25/reg

With 5,289 men lost to suicide in England, Scotland and Wales in 2023, this year's PLG symposium will explore the gaps in the health and social care system, how factors such as neurodiversity, deprivation, and intergenerational experiences intersect with mental health, the stigma around masculine identity and seeking help, and what actions could drive meaningful change.

Please contact confunit@bma.org.uk for more information.

Maximise Your Chances of GP Job Success

3 June | Join our comprehensive virtual workshop designed to help you navigate the GP job market with confidence. The interactive event is designed to support ST3 GP registrars, sessional GPs seeking new or additional roles or hours, GPs qualified outside the UK looking for their first NHS roles, GPs returning to practice after a career break, and First5 GPs.

This workshop provides expert guidance on navigating the job market at ST3 level and beyond, including alternative career pathways and finding the role that’s right for you. Discover the support and resources available from the BMA and other organisations to aid your job search. With insights from experienced GPs, opportunities to ask questions, and a dedicated discussion session, you’ll leave with the knowledge needed to maximise your chances of securing your ideal role. Register your interest >

Wellbeing resources

A range of wellbeing and support services are available to doctors, from our 24/7 confidential counselling and peer support services, NHS practitioner health service and non-medical support services such as Samaritans. The organisation Doctors in Distress also provides mental health support for health workers in the UK, providing confidential peer support group sessions.