Medici who called for industrial action at the British Medical Association’s annual conference in Brighton urged colleagues to channel their “inner Mick Lynch” with reference to the RMT railway union leader. Participants then voted for BMA leaders to oppose the contract, “including industrial action if necessary”.
Dr Jackie Applebee, a GP of Tower Hamlets in London, proposed the overall motion, saying it was necessary to protect the GP contract against “vultures”.
She said: “We cannot trust this government to protect the general practice or indeed the broader NHS.
“They have been in power for 12 years, but things are only getting worse.”
Amid cheers and applause, she said GPs should of course be held accountable for any shift in funding and “should not reimburse services to the minimum so that we can drop by the local Porsche showroom”.
She added: ‘I know some of you will be worried about industrial action, but how much more can we take?
“We have to take our lead from the RMT – they have quite rightly said ‘enough is enough, no more wage erosion, no more security cuts’.”
NHS England announced changes to the GP contract for 2022/23 in March.
This included a requirement for operations to make a quarter of appointments available for online booking and to extend opening hours.
The changes mean that GPs have to offer appointments from 09:00 to 17:00 on Saturdays, as well as until 20:00 on weekdays.
BMA members had already voted in favor of industrial action last November in an indicative vote.
Strikes will only continue if more than 50 percent of qualifying GP members vote in favor during a further vote.
Although GPs are unlikely to withhold emergency care, they can stop routine work and shorten their hours.
Medici also voted in favor of a motion calling on the BMA to pull GP practices out of primary care networks by 2023.
The networks involve groups of GP practices working with community, mental health, social care, pharmacy, hospital and voluntary services in their local areas.
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