Alec Collie, head of medical at Wesleyan Financial Services, finds that the new GP contract has intensified uncertainty for many doctors.
The new GP contract came into effect in April, aiming to improve GP capacity and patient access through same-day urgent appointments and reformed service delivery. But with it might come an unintended consequence.
Right before the contract came into effect, Wesleyan polled 500 GPs on the changes. More than a third (37%) say the contract will make them consider early retirement within the next year; among those aged 45-54, that figure rises to 45%.
This isn’t the response policymakers intended.
The introduction of the contract was meant to reduce uncertainty, but for many GPs, it’s intensified it, threatening to reduce the very capacity it aimed to improve.
An era of uncertainty
The contract itself brings immediate operational demands – same-day access for urgent cases and new administrative requirements. But it’s the broader NHS 10 Year Health Plan reforms where uncertainty really takes hold. Talk of neighbourhood health centres and technology investment lacks concrete detail on implementation, timelines, or funding.
GPs have been left operating in a grey zone, leaving seven in ten (70%) believing that reforms will intensify workload pressures, and six in ten (61%) concerned about increased financial risk and liability for practices. Meanwhile, costs continue to rise, squeezing profitability precisely when uncertainty makes planning impossible.
This uncertainty compounds an existing problem: partnership, the traditional route for senior GPs, is becoming financially unviable. The contract was meant to stabilise general practice, but instead, it’s accelerating the shift towards private work, portfolio careers, and overseas opportunities.
While 57% of GPs still want to become partners, the financial case is weakening fast.
Those targeting partnership most often cite long-term financial security (36%), career security (41%), and greater autonomy (31%).
But GPs are watching partner drawings get squeezed from multiple directions – rising practice costs, frozen tax thresholds until 2031, and a dividend tax rise that took effect this month.
For those considering partnership, integrated financial planning now matters enormously.
Understanding how practice income interacts with tax thresholds, how the dividend tax rise affects salary structuring, and how to plan for long-term liability exposure can make the difference between a viable partnership and one that looks financially unsustainable.
The retention challenge
Beyond partnership, the picture for general practice is concerning.
Three in ten (30%) GPs are considering working overseas, and 62% say the new contract makes them more likely to increase private work. Additionally, nearly two-thirds (63%) believe general practice feels less like a vocation than it used to.
These aren’t separate considerations or concerns, they all reflect experienced GPs systematically considering alternatives. They want sustainable careers with better work-life balance and earning potential.
Portfolio careers – combining NHS work with private practice, teaching, or other roles – offer exactly that. Only 27% of GPs currently do private work, but a further 33% say they want to start in the next 12 months.
The barrier isn’t interest. It’s a lack of support for managing the complexity that comes with a portfolio career. When GPs have coordinated planning – tax efficiency, pension coordination, streamlined administration – portfolio careers become viable. Without it, they look for those opportunities abroad or in full-time private practice instead.
What this means for general practice
The new contract won’t stabilise general practice through policy alone. That can only come through the financial support that makes GPs’ career choices viable – comprehensive planning that makes partnership sustainable, that makes portfolio careers feasible, and that makes staying in the UK more attractive than leaving.
Healthcare leaders and policymakers must recognise that the contract’s success depends not just on its design, but on whether GPs have the financial infrastructure to support it.
But GPs working today can’t wait for systemic change.
For those considering partnership, understanding how tax thresholds, dividend rates, and practice income interact is essential. For those building portfolio careers, coordinated planning across multiple income streams and pension schemes makes the difference between manageable diversification and unsustainable complexity.
The new contract creates real challenges. But GPs who plan strategically can navigate them. Specialist financial advice becomes critical here, empowering GPs to build careers where they can thrive sustainably.
