In recent weeks, NHS England has released a series of key documents outlining the strategic direction for the next few years. Among them, the 2025/26 Priorities and Operational Planning Guidance (read here), the New Operating Model (read here), and Neighbourhood Health Guidelines 2025/26 (read here).
For General Practice, these documents paint an ambitious picture—one that prioritises prevention, integration, and data-driven, patient-centred care. However, the elephant in the room remains: General Practice is already running on empty.
So, should we see this as another wave of NHS rhetoric that fails to address the chronic underfunding and workforce shortages in primary care? Or is there real potential here to fix some of the core pain points that plague practices?
📌 The Good News: A Shift to Proactive, Integrated Care
Let’s start with the positives. The Neighbourhood Health Guidelines focus on proactive care at a community level, using Primary Care Networks (PCNs) and Integrated Neighbourhood Teams (INTs) to drive better population health outcomes.
This means:
✅ Multi-Disciplinary Teams (MDTs): Bringing together GPs, nurses, pharmacists, social care workers, and voluntary sector partners to deliver joined-up care.
✅ Better use of digital tools: Increased risk stratification and AI-driven analytics will help predict and prevent ill health, rather than just treating it reactively.
✅ A focus on health inequalities: Practices will be encouraged to use data-driven approaches to reach underserved populations, improving access and outcomes.
This is exactly the kind of transformation General Practice needs—more joined-up working, more focus on prevention, and less fragmented care pathways.
But here’s the catch: we don’t have the resources to make it happen.
📉 The Reality Check: Underfunded, Overworked, and Fighting Fires
General Practice is already crippled by rising demand, an underfunded workforce, and increasing patient complexity.
The 2025/26 Priorities and Operational Planning Guidance acknowledges the importance of workforce sustainability and supporting practices, but without a serious boost in core funding, how realistic are these ambitions?
🔻 The Real Pain Points That Need Addressing Now
📌 Not Enough GPs, Not Enough Appointments
•Patient demand continues to rise, yet workforce numbers aren’t keeping up.
• The Operating Model references more flexible workforce planning, but what we really need is more doctors and nurses in General Practice now.
📌 PCNs Taking On More Work Without Additional Capacity
• The Neighbourhood Health Guidelines expect PCNs to play a central role in prevention and community health, yet PCNs are already overstretched.
• Expecting practices to take on more strategic planning, more community engagement, and more prevention work without extra funding or staff isn’t sustainable.
📌 Digital Innovation Needs Investment, Not Just Expectation
• The New Operating Model calls for better digital and data-driven care. But where’s the funding for new technology, training, and implementation?
•Practices already struggle with outdated IT systems and the demands of digital-first primary care.
⚡ The Opportunity: How Practices Can Make This Work
While these documents don’t fully solve the funding or workforce crisis, they do offer some opportunities to streamline practice operations and improve patient care.
Here’s how forward-thinking practices can use these policy shifts to their advantage:
1️⃣ Use Neighbourhood-Level Working to Share the Burden
Rather than seeing PCNs as an added workload, practices should look at how neighbourhood working can help reduce pressure.
✅ Collaborate with local teams to spread out demand—community pharmacists, social prescribers, and voluntary organisations can help manage patient flow more effectively.
✅ Pool resources with other local practices to deliver specialist clinics without burning out individual GPs and teams.
2️⃣ Double Down on Digital to Reduce Unnecessary Work
While NHSE expects digital transformation, practices need to push back and demand investment in technology that actually helps reduce workload.
✅ Encourage patients to use the NHS App for repeat prescriptions, test results, and appointment bookings—reducing unnecessary queries.
✅ Invest in AI-driven triage tools (if funded!) to manage demand before it reaches the GP’s desk.
✅ If resources allow, embrace data analytics to identify high-need patients early, helping to prevent crises rather than react to them.
3️⃣ Push for Smarter Funding & Contract Reforms
With discussions ongoing about the 2025/26 funding model, this is the time to make noise about what practices actually need:
✅ More funding linked to core General Practice, not just additional services.
✅ Reduced bureaucracy and more autonomy in how funding is allocated within PCNs.
✅ Better reimbursement models for long-term conditions management, ensuring that prevention work is properly resourced.
🚀 Final Thoughts: Is This a Step Forward or More Unrealistic Expectations?
The 2025/26 NHS England plans offer a vision for a better, more sustainable future for General Practice. But vision without resources won’t solve today’s crisis.
If NHSE is serious about prevention, workforce sustainability, and digital transformation, it must:
🔹 Fund PCNs and practices properly, not just pile on expectations.
🔹 Address workforce shortages with real investment in recruitment and retention.
🔹 Give practices more autonomy over how funding is used to meet local needs.
General Practice is the backbone of the NHS—the first point of contact for patients, the key to reducing hospital admissions, and the only part of the system that delivers true continuity of care.
We need the right support, funding, and flexibility to make these policy shifts a reality. Otherwise, they risk becoming another set of good intentions with no impact on the ground.
📌 What are your thoughts on the 2025/26 NHS plans? Are these changes realistic for your practice? Share your views in the comments.
📖 Read the full NHS England documents here:
• Neighbourhood Health Guidelines 2025/26 ➡ Read Here
• 2025/26 Priorities and Operational Planning Guidance ➡ Read Here
• NHS New Operating Model ➡ Read Here