Practices will face new patient rating systems and league tables as part of a long-promised rescue package, announced today.

The proposals were met with dismay by practice leaders as they mixed threats with limited funding to help relieve pressures. NHS England released its proposals – as government sources claimed that the proposals will “name and shame” practices that do not meet targets for face to face appointments.

NHS England, in its announcement, promised a £250 million winter access fund for practices. It said the money is to pay for locums and supporting health professionals such as physiotherapists and podiatrists. There will be money for urgent same day care – which may be provided by practices or primary care networks. It also promised new measures to tackle abuse and harassment of staff through a “zero tolerance” approach. NHS England said that practices that did not offer adequate face to face appointments would not be eligible for extra funding – but would be “offered support to improve.” There will also be funding for improved phone systems – and reforms of FIT notes and DVLA checks. There will also be new guidance from the UK Health Security Agency on infection control.

NHS England said it would publish practice level appointment data next year – a move described in media reports as “name and shame.” There will also be a text-based rating system for practices.

The British Medical Association said the published proposals “merely tinkered around the edges” and did not include measures to reduce burdens on practices.

BMA GP committee chair Dr Richard Vautrey said: “After weeks of promising an ‘emergency package’ to rescue general practice, we’re hugely dismayed that whilst additional funding has been promised, the package as a whole offers very little and shows a Government completely out of touch with the scale of the crisis on the ground. GPs and their teams will now be facing the worst winter for decades, and as a result, patients’ care will suffer. Appointments will be harder to book, waiting times will get longer, more of the profession could leave and GPs will struggle to cope.

“It is also disappointing to see that there is no end in sight to the preoccupation with face-to-face appointments; we need a more intelligent conversation about the variety of appointments and care that are available to patients to meet their needs. While in-person consultations are a key feature of general practice and absolutely necessary for some patients and certain conditions, the pandemic has proven that in many other cases phone or video appointments are entirely appropriate and appreciated by patients, and a crude focus on percentages or targets is completely unhelpful.”

He added: “Unfortunately, today’s offer merely tinkers around the edges, and will not reduce the unnecessary burden practices carry and therefore free up any more time for doctors to see more patients. We need an end to target-driven, payment-by-results, care and allow practices to look after patients in a way that is flexible and right for the person in front of them and the Government have missed an opportunity to tackle this.”

Beccy Baird, from the King’s Fund, said: “Recent experience shows that there simply aren’t enough GPs and other primary care staff to meet the demand for appointments. The additional funding announced today may help, but many practices already have vacancies that they are unable to fill, and in some areas even locum GPs are hard to find. This means other measures will be equally important, particularly the expansion of local, on-site support to practices for IT systems and making better use of the available space in their buildings.”

The Royal College of GPs said the plan was a “missed opportunity.”

NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said: “Improving access to high quality general practice is essential for our patients and for the rest of the NHS too. It is a personal priority and today NHS England is taking both urgent and longer term action to back GPs and their teams with additional investment and support.”