Written statement on GP contracts - Feb 24

Statement by Stephen Kinnock, Minister of State for Care

General practice is the front door of the NHS, delivering millions of appointments each year and providing trusted, continuous care to patients in every community. The Government is committed to supporting general practice, ensuring it is sustainable and at the heart of a modern neighbourhood health service.

I am pleased to inform the House of the outcome of the 2026–27 General Practice (GP) Contract consultation. The final package reflects commitments in the 10 Year Health Plan, including ending the “8am scramble”, improving timely access to care, tackling GP unemployment and supporting a shift towards prevention. This builds on recent improvements in patient experience, with the monthly Office for National Statistics' Health Insight Survey showing that in December 2025, over 75% of people said it was easy to make contact with their GP, up from just under 61% when this government came into office.

The 2026–27 GP contract includes a £485 million funding uplift, taking total contract investment to over £13.8 billion. This investment is focused on the changes that matter most to patients: easier access to GP appointments and more GPs working in practices. Through a c.£190 million p.a. investment in GP recruitment via the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) over the past 16 months, the government has recruited 3000 newly qualified GPs, preventing them from graduating into unemployment. Growing GP capacity is the most effective way to improve access and for the first time, £292 million of funding is being ringfenced for a practice-level GP recruitment scheme. We estimate this could translate to 1600 Full Time Equivalent GPs. The aim is to increase GP capacity that can be specifically focussed on improving patient access.

The contract also includes a new requirement that all patients who are deemed clinically urgent by their GP practice must be dealt with on the same day. Delivery of this requirement is supported by the ring-fenced GP recruitment scheme.

The contract also strengthens the role of general practice in prevention and neighbourhood health services, including targeted action to improve childhood vaccination uptake, supporting high deprivation areas where coverage has historically been lower; ensuring all those eligible are invited for lung cancer screening through improved data sharing, enabling earlier cancer diagnosis; and a £25 million investment to increase referrals into structured weight‑management and obesity support services for patients who need them most.

This contract embeds Advice and Guidance into core activity, supporting delivery of the Plan for Change by enabling more patients to receive the right care without unnecessary referral. This will help reduce pressure on elective services and help tackle waiting lists, while improving patient experience.

This year, the Department of Health and Social Care widened the consultation to engage stakeholders from across the primary care system including GPC England (GPCE), the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), National Voices, Institute of General Practice Management (IGPM), Healthwatch England, NHS Confederation and National Association of Primary Care (NAPC). This broader consultation enabled constructive feedback from across the system, helping to refine proposals and improve the final contract package for both patients and practices.

This demonstrates the Government's commitment to working constructively with the profession and system partners, and to ensuring that general practice is supported to meet the needs of patients now and in the future.