GP contract to be amended to bolster long-term care

New changes to the GP contract have been submitted to the British Medical Association (BMA) which aim to improve care quality for long-term conditions.

According to the government, the amendments will ensure more patients benefit from best practice in areas such as keeping blood pressure low and reducing cholesterol levels, while efforts will be made to minimise unnecessary emergency admissions to hospital.

Moreover, quality rewards for GPs will be changed to better reflect expert advice, while additional bonuses for organisational tasks like good record-keeping will be scrapped and put towards rewarding GPs who improve care quality.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "We want to drive up standards for all and want the contract to reflect the most up-to-date expert guidance and excellent standards of care."

The BMA has expressed concern over many of the "huge implications" of the changes and has questioned the soundness of the evidence upon which they are based.

Should the government fail to reach an agreement with the BMA on this matter, it will move into a period of formal consultation.