As we reach the latter half of the year, GP surgeries that wish to succeed have realised they cannot run on goodwill and guesswork. As the Government continues to pile pressure on our practitioners with disagreeable contract changes and financial burdens, the practices that are able to not just survive the next wave of policy chaos, but thrive, will do so because they took the time to seek the necessary support, whilst maintaining the highest standards of patient care.
But are there any specific must-haves that partners must implement into their operations now and before more challenges potentially come into their waiting rooms? Yes – and in this article, we’ll explore the three key pillars that will help GPs and surgeries flourish in this particularly challenging period.
A specialist medical accountant
Let’s face it, your average accountancy firm cannot handle the deep intricacies of running a GP surgery’s finances. Simply, it lies well out of their typical scope.
The point is this: to have a partner that truly understands the ins and outs of GP roadblocks, practices must employ specialist GP accountancy firms, such as Ramsay Brown, to handle the heavy lifting around NHS pensions, McCloud remedy recalculations, and Carr-Hill funding allocations.
Doing so enables partners to focus on delivering high-quality patient care, leaving the numbers to those that know them best. No matter how complex Whitehall makes the finances, bringing on a specialist medical accountant will give your practice the clarity to always put the patient first.
The unfortunate truth is that a GP surgery succeeds even if it breaks even. British Medical Association data reveals that 88.8% of the funding received by a surgery for a patient is directly swallowed up by staffing costs, and that doesn’t account for the layers tying up said funding, the rules and regulations, and so on. If no one is following the numbers, before you know it, your firm will be running itself into the ground.
Nevertheless, a specialist GP accountant has the expertise required to access secondary income streams like the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), yet, as is typical with Whitehall, they will inevitably shift the goal posts. A specialist accountancy firm will adapt to ensure your practice continues to capture the estimated 13% of additional revenue secondary income streams offer.
Beating the national average
Managing a GP surgery’s finances isn’t only about watching your own accounts, it’s about knowing how your numbers stack up against the competition. That way, you’ll know which teams are frontrunners and which teams are stragglers.
A large slice of patient care is providing prescriptions, yet medication is expensive. Open-source tools, such as OpenPrescription, use data to make savings. Driving prescription costs down also reduces admin work. Free from the treadmill of lost prescriptions, frontline staff can focus on delivering clinical success.
Paperwork is the bane of any GP’s shift. Ardens Manager unpacks your access metrics, like seeing how physios and clinical pharmacists take on GP pressures. A clear dashboard puts you in the driver’s seat and helps you spot trends against other practices.
Tech for client experience
Paying staff to handle routine appointments and admin is an endless drain for GP practices. Offloading more capacity to the NHS App is a good fix. Patients have the appetite: data from GOV.UK found that more patients now contact their practice through the app than on the phone. Clinical record systems like TPP SystmOne can act as the back-end engine for this digital shift, instantly absorbing online registrations into patient databases.
This matters because patient experience is no longer separate from practice efficiency. If patients can book appointments, request repeat prescriptions, view test results and access information without calling reception, everyone benefits. Patients get a faster, simpler service, while staff are freed up to support those who genuinely need human help.
The key is not to throw technology at every problem. It is to use the right systems in the right places. A digital front door should reduce pressure, not create a new admin burden. That means making sure systems are integrated, staff are properly trained, and patients are guided towards the most efficient route for their needs.
For GP practices, 2026 will not reward complacency. The pressure on funding, staffing and patient demand is not going away, and partners cannot afford to treat financial management, benchmarking and technology as optional extras. They are now central to survival.
The practices that succeed will be those that understand their numbers, compare themselves honestly against the national picture, and use technology to improve access without overwhelming their teams. Above all, they will recognise that better business management is not a distraction from patient care. It is what protects it.
GP pressures are unrelenting. To thrive, practices must adapt. Bringing the right experts, tools and systems into the picture frees up staff to deliver first-class care. The three pillars noted in this piece expose the friction points inside a practice, giving partners the clarity and control they need to succeed in 2026 and beyond.
