21 January 2026

Dear colleagues     General Practice: Critically Endangered - Facing Extinction   Last Thursday, GPC England met at BMA House for the first meeting of 2026; this week marked ‘Blue Monday’ - the lowest emotional point of the winter. You won’t be alone in struggling to find the joy in general practice currently, especially given relentless online demand and respiratory illnesses which have taken their toll on practices and GPs nationwide.  We are seeing some of our busiest days

This is an excellent opportunity to join our expanding team! Applicants should have excellent communication skills and experience in a general practice environment is preferred. The post is a permanent position, preferable full time and salary depends on experience.  About us We are a friendly, family practice offering quality clinical care to over 8000 patients.  Our premises is situated on the A690 in Sunderland, easily reached from the A19 & A1.  Our team is composed of 3

This is an excellent opportunity to join our team! We are looking to recruit an experienced part time HCA. The post is a permanent position, preferrable part time however hours can be discussed, and salary depends on experience. This is a great opportunity for a motivated individual who enjoys patient-facing work and wants to play a key role in delivering high quality primary care services. About us We are a friendly, family practice offering quality clinical care to over 800

19 December 2025

19 December 2025

28 November 2025

28 November 2025

Dear colleague,   As 2025 draws to a close we bring you the last newsletter of the year, updating you on what’s been happening over the past few weeks and looking forward to what the new year may bring.   The approach from Government earlier this month was followed this week by our attendance at the Department of Health, where we met with DHSC, NHSE and Number 10 officials to discuss the 2026/27 GP contract proposals. We spent a significant period of time feeding back on thei

Dear colleagues   No more point scoring – let’s prioritise practice wellbeing and patient safety Yesterday, the Secretary of State for Health, Rt Hon Wes Streeting MP, wrote to all GPs in England . This is an unusual move, and it is in response to the GPC England officer team being firm in stating what we need for NHS general practice and with regards to the new requirements from October 1 st , including mitigations for safer management of online consultations that I know a l

17/11/25

Dear colleagues   GPC England in dispute I know many of you are really struggling with increased online demand. Your GPC England chair has this afternoon, written to Mr Streeting explaining when online GP pathways are opened up to unlimited consultations promising patients’ better access, but providing no more GPs to increase appointment capacity; promising to ‘end the 8am scramble’ but providing no additional appointments, that we cannot safely accommodate this unmet need.

31/10/25

Dear colleagues   Online consultation contractual changes survey On 1 October 2025, GP practices in England became contractually obliged to make online consultation tools available to patients throughout the practice's contractual core hours (Monday –Friday 8am-6.30pm).GPC England agreed these contractual changes in February 2025 but with the important proviso that ‘necessary safeguards’ would be in place prior to the 1 October implementation date.Over the following months th

17 October 2025

Dear colleagues   GPC England in dispute I know many of you are really struggling with increased online demand. Your GPC England chair has this afternoon, written to Mr Streeting explaining when online GP pathways are opened up to unlimited consultations promising patients’ better access, but providing no more GPs to increase appointment capacity; promising to ‘end the 8am scramble’ but providing no additional appointments, that we cannot safely accommodate this unmet need.