Family doctors across England are to stage unprecedented industrial action amid a row over the new contract for GP services in England.
More than 8,500 GPs took part in a vote, the British Medical Association (BMA) said, with 98.3% backing collective action.
The BMA will encourage surgeries to choose from a list of 10 actions.
These include refusing to share patient data or referring patients directly to specialist care rather than following NHS processes.
Doctors have said the action could last for “months”.
Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chairwoman of the BMA’s England General Practitioners Committee, told the PA news agency earlier this week that the action could bring the NHS to a “standstill very quickly” – though medics have said they do not want to make patients “piggy in the middle” and are directing the action at NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care.
The BMA has said the new GP contract, which will see services given a 1.9% funding increase for 2024/25, means many surgeries will struggle to stay financially viable.
GPs launched a formal dispute over the issue in April after a referendum carried out by the union found 99% of 19,000 GPs rejected the contract.
Dr Bramall-Stainer told PA the action has been designed to be “easy, sustainable and effective” because it could last “week on week on week, month, on month on month”.
She added: “If it’s done effectively, it’s done collectively and it’s done well, it will bring the NHS to a standstill very quickly – but not for patients, (for) all the NHS admin, the policymakers who have put in place these decisions that aren’t helping patients.”
According to the GP magazine Pulse, GPs will be able to pick and choose from a menu of actions set out by the BMA.
This means some GP surgeries may choose to limit the number of patients GPs see each day to 25 while other practices may not.
Some surgeries may have already deployed some of the measures set out by the union – such as dialling back on work which they perform but are not contractually obliged to do.
Dr Bramall-Stainer met with Health Secretary Wes Streeting on July 18 and union leaders hope such talks will continue.
The news comes after the Department of Health and Social Care made a new pay offer to junior doctors in England – potentially bringing an end to months of strike action.
Junior doctor members of the BMA are now voting on whether to accept the deal, which is worth 22.3% on average over two years.
Published: by Radio NewsHub