Conservatives wrong to claim GPs are striking for first time in 60 years

The Conservative party has inaccurately claimed that GPs in England are striking for the first time in 60 years in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

This isn’t quite right.

Firstly, GPs are not striking. Last week, GPs voted to take what’s called “collective action” in response to a funding dispute: the key distinction being that services are not being withdrawn, at least at this stage.

Secondly, this isn’t the first time GPs have taken such action in 60 years. While it’s true that GPs as a group have not voted to take collective action since 1964, between a fifth and a third of GP practices took part in industrial action over pensions in 2012.

We’ve also seen a number of posts on Facebook making this claim in the week since the result of the ballot was first reported.

If a political party makes a false or misleading claim on social media, they should correct this quickly in a clear and transparent manner, including on the same platform where the claim was made.

We’ve contacted the Conservative party about this claim and will update this article with any response.

How does collective action differ from a strike?

Collective action, in this context, refers to actions taken by GPs that do not breach their contracts.

This is distinct from strike action, which is characterised by workers’ mass refusal to work. 

At the end of July, the doctors’ union the British Medical Association (BMA) asked its GP members whether or not they would support taking collective action. Seven-in-10 eligible members voted, with 98.3% voting in support of taking action.

As a result, the BMA is now asking GPs to take “at least one of the actions” the union outlined, starting from 1 August.

This includes limiting the number of daily patient contacts, stopping the “rationing” of referrals, and deferring decisions on pilot programmes, but importantly does not include the withdrawal of services.

The BMA considers this phase one of its campaign, explaining that “further steps could involve escalation to contract breach actions, eg action short of strike or strike action”.

When was the last time GPs took industrial action?

In addition to the industrial action already mentioned which some GPs undertook in 2012, someGP trainees may have taken strike action more recently. The BMA said that GP trainees could take part in the junior doctor strikes in 2023, with the union encouraging GP registrars with NHS employers to “to take part in the strike action”.

But GPs last took collective action as a whole profession in 1964 when they collectively handed in undated resignations, leading to reforms including the Family Doctor Charter.