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The Health Secretary and the BMA are in dispute over changes to how patients can contact their family doctors
Jane KirbyThursday 27 November 2025 16:31 GMT
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Wes Streeting has criticised the British Medical Association (BMA) in a letter to GPs, accusing the union of "misleading" general practitioners and acting "unprofessionally".
The Health Secretary and the BMA are in dispute over changes to how patients can contact their family doctors.
Under the new rules, GP practices must ensure their online consultation tools remain operational throughout core hours, allowing patients to request appointments, ask questions, and describe symptoms digitally.
The government insists these changes are patient-led and vital for ending the "8am scramble" for appointments.
The BMA has entered formal dispute with the government over the changes, adding that its survey of 1,300 GP practices in England has exposed “significant concerns”.
In the poll, 42 per cent of practices said they were having to reduce face-to-face appointments and 45 per cent said they have had to redeploy staff to manage the changes.
Some 74 per cent reported an increase in workload, 68 per cent reported a rise in stress and 54 per cent said there was an increase in working hours.
open image in galleryStreeting said the BMA was in dispute over the online access contract changes “which they agreed to, and which the vast majority of practices have now adopted” (PA Media)In his letter to GPs on Thursday, Mr Streeting praised family doctors and said patient satisfaction with general practice is improving, describing this as a “significant achievement”.
He said the BMA was in dispute over the online access contract changes “which they agreed to, and which the vast majority of practices have now adopted”.
He added: “Since entering government, I have sought a constructive relationship with the BMA GP Committee which, until recently, I believe we had.
“I am a staunch supporter of the trade union movement, but serious relationships with government demand a certain level of mutual respect and professionalism.
“Your union representatives are currently making it impossible for me and my officials to engage in good faith in the way we would all want.”
He noted comments made by Dr Katie Bramall, chairwoman of the BMA GPs committee, in which she accused the government of being “traitors” to the profession and of “disingenuousness”, “duplicity” and “gaslighting”.
He said these comments were “deeply unprofessional” and “misleading”, adding: “The BMA agreed these contract changes in February 2025 and any suggestions to the contrary are factually incorrect.”
He added: “This is a government that wants to work constructively with the GP profession in genuine partnership, and I sincerely hope the BMA will choose to de-escalate their dispute.”
open image in galleryStreeting labelled Dr Katie Bramall’s comments as “deeply unprofessional” (James Manning/PA)It comes as the GMB union, which represents over 75 per cent of staff working at the BMA, accused the BMA of “hypocrisy”.
The GMB said it has launched a dispute in response to a proposed pay offer for BMA workers of 2 per cent.
Since 2012, BMA staff have suffered pay erosion of nearly 17 per cent as a result of years of “sub-inflationary” pay awards, the GMB said, at the same time as heavily criticising the government over pay for doctors.
In October, the BMA said the government’s suggestion it can only increase doctors’ pay by 2.5 per cent in 2026 was “indefensible”.
A GMB spokesperson said: “It is nothing short of hypocritical for the BMA leadership to make their staff a pay offer that they would encourage their own members to reject.
“BMA staff have worked tirelessly to support doctors both during Covid and through multiple rounds of industrial action.
“We stand in solidarity with resident doctors in England and Scotland, many of whom we have got to know on the picket lines and who are speaking out against real terms pay cuts on this campaign for several years now.
“We just wish the BMA’s chief executive, board and council would see the disparity in treatment and make a fair offer that recognises our members’ worth.”
Consultation for the 2026/27 GP contract will begin shortly but will no longer just involve the government and the BMA.
The government has said it plans to consult more widely, including with the Royal College of GPs, the National Association of Primary Care (NAPC), Healthwatch England, National Voices and the NHS Confederation.
