The contractual changes imposed by NHS England do nothing to recognise the pressures that GPs areunder and the BMA encourage practices to continue to use their safe working guidance to enable them to prioritise safe patient care, within the present bounds of the GMS contract.

The BMA has also developed a tool to help with the increasing workload and to support practices with implementing a triage system if they wish to do so.

The toolkit aims to provide a cost neutral aid to reduce the administrative burden on staff members, ensure patients are seen by the right clinician at the right time and allow GPs to spend their time where it is needed the most.