Extra Funding for GPs - cause for celebration?

The announcement by Wes Streeting to pump an extra £889 million a year into primary care is big news for GPs and patients alike. As a GP Partner, I can’t help but feel a mix of cautious optimism and skepticism about the whole thing. 

Let’s start with the positives. The government is finally acknowledging what we’ve been shouting about for years: primary care is overburdened and underfunded. Cutting the number of QOF targets from 76 to 44 is a move in the right direction. Frankly, no GP went into this job to spend hours ticking boxes to meet bureaucratic targets. The less time we spend on admin, the more time we can focus on treating patients. Plus, adding practice nurses to the ARRS gives us much-needed flexibility in how we staff our practices, which is crucial when demand is through the roof.

The emphasis on continuity of care also stands out. Incentivizing practices to ensure patients—especially those with chronic conditions—see the same GP regularly is a no-brainer. The doctor-patient relationship is the backbone of general practice, and it’s about time the system supported that rather than undermining it with endless fragmentation.

But here’s where the skepticism creeps in. While £889 million sounds like a lot (and, to be fair, it is), it represents about a 7.5% increase in funding. Is that enough to tackle years of underinvestment and soaring patient demand? Primary care is a sinking ship, and while this funding might be a decent-sized bucket, it’s not exactly the lifeboat we need. We’re dealing with escalating workloads and a workforce crisis. If this money doesn’t translate into tangible changes—like hiring more staff and improving working conditions—it might just be another drop in the ocean.

There’s also the question of strings attached. As always with NHS funding, the devil is in the detail. Will this money come with new layers of accountability or performance measures that end up undoing the gains from reducing QOF targets? And let’s not forget the elephant in the room: recruitment. You can throw all the money in the world at primary care, but if we can’t attract and retain GPs, nurses, and allied health professionals, it’s all for nothing.

In my opinion, this funding is a step in the right direction—finally, we’re being heard. But I’ll reserve judgment until we see how it’s implemented. If done right, it could start to turn things around. If not, it’ll just be another missed opportunity. For now, cautious optimism seems to be the most sensible approach. Let’s hope this isn’t just another flash-in-the-pan announcement and leads to real, meaningful change for the future of primary care.

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