GPs and practices may face an imposed contract after the failure of talks involving Health Secretary Steve Barclay.

GP leaders have already threatened sanctions over proposals for a contract which, they say, fails to allow for the increased costs faced by practices.

Barclay met doctors from the British Medical Association GP committee last week as part of a round of talks with trade unions. The doctors say they came away with no concessions or promises of change. The BMA said it would now be discussing with GPs and others in general practice how to respond to imposition of the practice.

Dr Kieran Sharrock, acting chair of the BMA’s England GP committee, said: “We approached yesterday’s meeting in a spirit of collaboration hopeful that the Secretary of State would listen to our evidence and logic and be willing to take meaningful action to support practices and their patients when they need it most. We were therefore dismayed at his refusal to offer anything more than NHS England’s insulting offer last month. This offer included no extra help for practices to meet the rising costs of running practices, while lumping more bureaucracy and arbitrary targets on practices that only set them up to fail. It felt like the meeting was simply a tick box exercise for the Secretary of State and that, for him, merely showing up was enough. Well, it wasn’t.

“If the Government is serious about improving experiences for patients, it needs to listen to those of us who dedicate our working lives to looking after them in increasingly difficult circumstances. We’ve lost the equivalent of more than 2,000 full-time, fully qualified GPs in England since this Government first promised 5,000 more in 2015; this should be a mark of shame for ministers.

“But is it any wonder when politicians continue to refuse to engage and listen? Messages like the one sent by Mr Barclay will only push more GPs towards the exit door and leave more patients struggling to see a family doctor. As far as we see it this is the end of the road for this year’s contract negotiations and we will now be entering serious discussions with our membership and the profession on where we go next.”