Around 2 in 5 GP practices in England have begun cutting the number of appointments they offer per day as part of industrial action.

Family doctors began taking collective action in August 2024 in protest against funding levels for their current contract.

The action includes limiting the number of patients seen per day to 25 and potentially choosing to stop performing work they are not formally contracted to do.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has said the measures were designed to bring the NHS “to a standstill” but insisted the protests were aimed at policy-makers, not patients.

A poll of 660 practices by Pulse magazine found 41% of surgeries are limiting patient contacts to 25 per GP a day, The Telegraph reports.

This is up from 26% in August when a smaller survey was carried out.

The survey with Management in Practice suggests about 70% of GP practices are taking some form of action, with others serving notice on voluntary services.

Doctors claim autumn budget has not helped matters

According to The Telegraph, GP leaders this week said they may ramp up industrial action amid a row over an increase in National Insurance employer contributions that will drive up their costs.

Dr Steve Taylor, GP spokesman for the Doctors’ Association UK, told Pulse: “With the current contract failing to cover costs and increased costs being brought in by the current Government in the form of National Insurance and staff costs, it is vital that the Government makes funding available now to ensure GPs can continue to provide the services they need to for patients.”

Some practices say the Chancellor’s measures, combined with the increase in the national living wage, could cost a practice as much as £140,000 – the equivalent of five nurses.

The BMA is set to start negotiations with the Government on the GP contract for 2025/26 shortly.

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A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “The NHS is broken, and the Secretary of State has been clear he wants to work with doctors to get it back on its feet so it works for patients and staff.

“We have taken tough decisions to fix the foundations so a £22 billion boost for the NHS and social care could be announced at the Budget.

“This Government is committed to recruiting over 1,000 newly qualified GPs by cutting red tape so patients can get the care they need and NHS England is working to address training delays to ensure the health service has enough staff for the future.”