The King's Fund responds to the GP contract for 2026/27

Commenting on the GP contract for 2026/27, Beccy Baird, Senior Fellow at The King's Fund, said:

‘It’s clear that prevention has been placed at the forefront of today’s new GP contract, with efforts to close the health inequalities gap a common thread running through plans to incentivise GPs to support improving childhood vaccination rates, roll out the national lung cancer screening programme, and expand obesity treatment across the country. The government also continues its emphasis on improving access for patients with both additional investment and existing money ringfenced for employing GPs. However, questions remain about how achievable these ambitions are without sustainable long-term planning for the right workforce make-up in general practice.

On the updated incentive scheme for childhood vaccination:

‘The government’s plan to give extra financial support to GP practices in areas with low childhood vaccination uptake is a crucial dose of support. As uptake tends to be lower in more deprived communities, an incentive scheme that rewards progress, rather than hitting absolute targets, helps ensure that practices serving these populations aren’t unfairly penalised or denied the funding they need to improve uptake.

‘The King’s Fund’s research shows that lower vaccine uptake is often driven by financial and practical barriers such as transport or digital exclusion, alongside safety concerns, cultural beliefs, mistrust and misinformation. Recognising and rewarding the GP practices that are working incredibly hard to overcome these obstacles through tailored, community-rooted approaches is a positive move toward narrowing the inequality gap in vaccination and children’s health.

On the introduction of obesity care and increased access to weight loss jabs:

‘With the country facing a major obesity crisis, it’s good to see the government put better and fairer access to the latest treatments for obesity on the agenda. It’s unclear whether these jabs will lead to lasting health improvements or risk widening inequalities while failing to tackle the root causes of obesity in our environment. A true prevention revolution will require government to show political bravery, introduce tougher regulation of junk-food companies and implement promised compulsory reporting of healthy food sales to hold the junk-food industry to account.

On mandating GPs to provide patient data for lung cancer screening:

‘Mandating GPs to provide patient data to support lung cancer screening is another positive step that brings to life commitments set out in the National Cancer Plan. Early diagnosis saves lives, and this change will help ensure more people benefit from timely screening and treatment. It is important that GPs are equipped with the resources they need to implement this change as patient data may need cleaning and standardising.

‘All of these initiatives are positive for people’s health, but there are still some thorny issues to be tackled ahead of the long-awaited 10 Year Workforce Plan, particularly the details of how general practice will be staffed in the long term to deliver this work. General practice requires a workforce model. If the government is serious about shifting care from hospitals into the community, and for GPs to be central to that vision, then it must take a more holistic, long‑term approach to building a resilient workforce capable of delivering the best quality of care to all patients across the country.’

Notes to editors

Last year, The King’s Fund’s published Approaches to vaccine delivery: learning from Gloucestershire ICB’s Covid-19 vaccine programme. It sets out lessons for strengthening vaccine campaigns for the rest of the country.

The King’s Fund has published a blog: How To Tackle Obesity: Why Industry Must Step Up | The King's Fund

For more recommendations on achieving the shift from treating sickness to prevention, read A Prevention Revolution Or Another Missed Opportunity? | The King's Fund