Family Doctors in England Protest Over 'Broken' Funding Model

Family doctors in England have voted to limit patient numbers and refuse extra work in a protest over the funding model. The British Medical Association's work-to-rule action begins immediately. The government’s pay deal with junior doctors aims to end strikes, highlighting ongoing NHS pressure.

Family doctors in England have voted to limit the number of patients they see and refuse extra work to protest a 'broken' funding model, their union announced Thursday.

The British Medical Association revealed that 98.3 per cent of the 8,500 general practitioners who voted backed the work-to-rule action, which stops just short of a strike and commences immediately.

While the state-funded National Health Service assured that doctors' offices would remain open, they admitted the impact will differ across locations.

The union termed the collective action as 'an act of desperation.' It criticized a new contract between doctors and the government, which includes a 1.9 per cent funding increase for 2024-25, arguing that many practices might become financially unviable. These practices are government-funded but operated as independent businesses.

'We are witnessing general practice being broken,' declared Dr. Katie Bramall-Stainer, chair of the union's general practice committee for England. She stressed that recent governments have caused the decline of family doctors, resulting in patient suffering. The Labour Party government, elected last month, has prioritized ending over a year of on-off public sector strikes by workers including teachers, nurses, and hospital doctors, who claim declining real pay amid rising workloads.

One of the government's first actions was negotiating a pay rise for junior doctors, promising them a 22 per cent increase over two years to cease a series of strikes, easing pressure on the National Health Service.

'GPs and their teams are the bedrock of the NHS, and we recognize they are working extremely hard, managing record demand,' said Dr. Amanda Doyle, NHS National Director for Primary Care and Community Services. She added that the health service would 'continue to collaborate with the government to resolve and end the collective action.'

(With inputs from agencies.)