29/03/2026
From 1st April 2026, both patients and GPs will have their right to be referred to hospital services removed under the new contract enforced upon us all by the current Government.
Instead, GPs and their patients will have to request Advice and Guidance and await a reply to decide if any referral will be accepted or not. If not, there will be advice given. If accepted, you will then be placed on a waiting list but in effect you would have been put on two waiting lists at this stage - one to get advice / referral acceptance and then another for the hospital appointment itself.
GPs across England are deeply concerned that this in effect denies patients of their rights, potentially delays necessary care and may put patients at risk.
GPs are also worried that the advice will create additional workload which may not be funded or be deliverable given the current high demands within primary care and the funding issues being faced.
Quayside will continue to work hard and deal with the many issues raised around this new system and the workload and risks it carries for us and our patients.
GPs have unanimously rejected the new contract yet again by over 99%, and are awaiting advice on next steps. Whilst GPs as individual contract holders are very unlikely to strike like our hospital colleagues (more resident Doctors coming very soon), we are awaiting much needed collective plans on how we make the ongoing funding and structural challenges safe and workable for our workforce and our patients.
