GPs should extend the length of their appointments to 15 minutes, a move which would likely mean reducing the total number of appointments they offer, the BMA General Practitioners Committee for England (GPCE) has advised.1In updated “safe working” guidance published on 6 September GPCE acknowledged that a reduction in appointments would mean non-urgent patients may have to wait longer to be seen. But it said GPs must focus on “delivering safe, high quality care” while making sure their workloads are manageable, noting that GP practices are currently seeing “nearly half the country’s population every month.”The guidance, which also advises practices to “cease all non-contractual work and divert their resources to core services,” comes after GP partners in England voted to start taking collective action from 1 August in response to NHS England imposing their 2024-25 contract which included a core funding uplift of 1.9%. While the government has increased this…