GPs in England are to stage industrial action for the first time in 60 years amid a row over funding, a move that experts have warned could have a catastrophic effect on the entire healthcare system.
In a ballot run by the British Medical Association (BMA), family doctors voted in favour of taking collective action in protest at the previous government increasing their budget by only 1.9% this year.
The disruption is likely to begin immediately and could last months.
GP partners will be able to choose what form of industrial actions to take from a selection set out by the BMA, the Guardian understands, and could bring the NHS to a standstill.
One option is to limit the number of patients GPs will see each day to 25. They may choose to stop performing work they are not formally contracted to do, and they could ignore “rationing” restrictions by “prescribing whatever is in the patient’s best interest”.
The development poses an enormous headache for Wes Streeting, the health secretary, just three days after he resolved a long-running pay dispute with junior doctors.
Junior doctors’ leaders in England agreed to a new pay deal with the government on Monday, which could lead to their wages rising by 22.3% over two years.
The last time GPs took “collective action” was in 1964 when family doctors collectively handed in undated resignations to the Wilson government. This led to changes including the Family Doctor Charter of 1965.
The BMA has said the new GP contract, which will increase funding for services by 1.9% in 2024-25, means many surgeries will struggle to stay financially viable. Patient groups have said industrial action would be “selfish” and warned that GPs risked harming those in need of care and losing the public’s support.
GP leaders say they are targeting NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care – not patients. But Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, has warned that industrial action by GPs could have a “catastrophic” impact on A&E units, the 111 telephone advice service and mental healthcare.