NHS England has published its latest changes to the GP Contract for 2026/27, looking to build on existing work around improving access for patients, and making changes to QOF, vaccinations, and “enabling practices to prioritise clinically urgent needs”.
Investment in the contract will increase by £485 million in 2026/27, NHSE shares, bringing the total contract value to £13,863 million, and offering “a 3.6 percent cash growth or 1.4 percent real terms growth relative to the GDP deflator”.
The contract makes a number of changes to current requirements for GP registration, with the use of online registration to be mandated in all cases, and practices required to input information from paper registration forms into the national online registration system.
Online consultation systems should not cap the number of requests that can be submitted during core hours, to ensure online consultations “operate with the same parity as telephone and walk-in access”, NHSE outlines. Contract regulations will also be amended to require practices to provide timely data and information on online and video consultation services to improve consistency in the monitoring of access, patient experience, and system performance. “The intention is not to performance manage practices, but to support a clearer understanding of access, highlight where improvement may be needed and help identify inequalities,” NHSE adds.
Other changes include practice-level GP reimbursement scheme to support practices with GP recruitment, funded by £292 million in repurposed funding from the PCN Capacity and Access Payment. The use of ARRS funding to recruit newly qualified GPs will be removed to encourage the recruitment of a wider range of GPs, and associated maximum reimbursement will be increased to reflect this change.
A new requirement is being introduced that patients identified as clinically urgent should be dealt with on the same day, with determination around what constitutes clinical urgency to be made at practice level. “For patients whose needs are assessed as non‑urgent, practices will be required to provide an appropriate response by the end of the next core hours period,” NHSE continues. “For non-urgent cases, this does not necessarily mean an appointment, but it does mean patients will know how their presenting issue will be managed and what the next steps are.”
Amanda Doyle, national director for primary care and community services, shared the following with colleagues across general practice: “I want to thank you for your continued hard work. The improvements we are seeing in general practice are benefitting patients and I’m extremely grateful for your ongoing work.”
Wider trend: Digital primary care
Late last year, a HTN webinar looked at the role of digital in supporting the primary and secondary care interface, with our experts sharing details about their own approaches and experiences in this area, including best practices and key learnings. We also explored interoperability, collaboration between care settings and how digital can ensure patients are directed to the right place at the right time. Panellists included, Kath Potts, chief digital officer at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust and Dr Sheikh Mateen Ellahi, GP and practice partner at Elm Tree Surgery and South Stockton Primary Care Network.
Patients Know Best has announced it has surpassed 6 million registered patients as it closes out the year, representing a 30 percent increase since the start of 2025. Since launching its GP data integration six months ago, over 2.5 million patients have chosen to also add their GP data alongside their hospital information, delivering a single patient record at scale. The company shared with HTN that “this enriched record is driving stronger engagement, with these patients’ monthly logins increasing from 35 percent to 45 percent”, reflecting the “value people see when they can access, understand, and manage a fuller view of their health”.
Finalists have been announced for the HTN Primary Care Awards 2025/26, celebrating GP practices, primary care networks, integrated care boards and suppliers who have delivered improvements in primary care. The awards provide a platform to share innovations, solutions, case studies, collaborations and projects to help shape future services and systems across health and care. Join us for a digital awards ceremony, from 7pm – visit HTN.co.uk – 11 March 2026 to find out the winners.
