GPs have threatened to strike – just one day after Wes Streeting accused their militant union of sabre-rattling.
Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chairman of the British Medical Associations GPs committee, warned medics could walk out if the Health Secretary did not listen to us.
Surgeries across England are embarking on work-to-rule measures designed to bring the NHS to a standstill in a row over funding and a new contract.
Union leaders have told family doctors they can pick and choose from a catalogue of ten measures designed to wreak havoc across the health service.
It includes slashing the number of appointments they offer by up to half to a maximum of 25 per day and refusing to follow some NHS processes.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting (pictured) accused the BMA of sabre-rattling on Thursday
Members of the British Medical Association (BMA) protest in Whitehall over pay and conditions on August 11, 2023
But Dr Bramall-Stainer told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme this could be ramped up if the Government did not take rapid action to improve the situation for GPs.
She said current actions did not amount to striking but added GPs could take that step if they did not get what they wanted.
NHS figures published last month show GP partners, who own their practice and account for the majority of family doctors, earn an average of £140,200 a year, despite only one in three working full-time.
But Dr Bramall-Stainer said the pressure on GPs was leading some to take their own life and they could not wait for Labour to develop a ten-year plan for reform.
She warned: One in four GPs knows another GP who has taken their own life. My own GP took his own life in 2021. Thats not sabre-rattling.
General practice is collapsing now, and were not in a position to be able to wait for long-term plans next year or spending reviews.
In a video posted on X yesterday morning, she revealed more than four in five GP practices had already started at least one form of collective action.
Dr Bramall-Stainer said the clock is ticking and urged more GPs to join the work-to-rule.
Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chairman of the British Medical Associations GPs committee, warned medics could walk out and are keen to get stuck into collective action
She added: Summer is over and we know youre keen to get stuck into collective action.
These actions will work and they will build growing leverage.
On Thursday, Mr Streeting said the BMA should stop sabre-rattling and work with the Government to improve services.