Pulse leads coverage on new general practice contract

When the new general practice contract dropped last week, the Pulse team wasted no time in working on comprehensive and digestible content for our readers, highlighting and breaking down the main talking points.

In just one day, Pulse produced 10 pieces of content including: seven news stories; one op-ed from NHS England’s national director for primary care Dr Amanda Doyle; and an editorial from Pulse editor Sofia Lind. 

Our coverage of the general practice contract spanned a range of updates such as the introduction of a new incentive to boost patient continuity; the removal of the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) funding ringfence; reduction of QOF indicators to fund the global sum; and the pausing of GP collective action. 

The team has also published an in-depth analysis of the contract, scrutininsing the details below the headlines. This contract is the first agreed deal - rather than imposed - in England for four years, which prompted the Government and NHS England to herald the deal as a success. But Pulse’s analysis examined what the changes will actually mean for practices and GPs on the ground.

The coverage is still ongoing, with Pulse’s reporters listening to GPs’ remaining queries and concerns about the contract details, and trying to get answers. One of the main stories last year was GP practices being unfairly penalised by the National Insurance Contributions (NICs) increase announced in the Budget. The 2025/26 contract made no specific mention of this and it did not go unnoticed by our readers. The Pulse team got confirmation that the funding boost is intended to cover these extra costs, answering some of the most important questions from our readership.

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