According to a survey conducted by Pulse magazine last month, half of GPs would support taking some form of industrial action if they are offered a further below inflation pay rise for 2015/16.

However, of the 458 GPs polled, 27 per cent said they would not and 23 per cent said they were undecided but the General Practitioners’ Committee (GPC) has said that the results are a “clear sign of how desperate GPs feel”.

When asked their views, some 70 GPs commented and, of these, just over a quarter said they would strike or close their surgeries temporarily, 14 per cent said they would support a policy of ‘non-co-operation’ and 20 per cent said they would only carry out emergency work in protest.

Pulse carried out the survey amid rising concern amongst GPs about the funding for general practice, with data published last month showing that they face a £1.59bn cut in funding by 2017, even though their workload will rise substantially if current trends continue.

According to the GPC, GPs are concerned about the survival of their practices and are angry that, in real terms, their funding has been decreasing since 2006. They are also concerned about the distribution and level of funding.

There has been talk by the union Unison about a potential ‘day of protest’ on June 5 over pay, while another suggestion has been for an ‘emergency motion’ at the British Medical Association’s (BMA) Annual Representatives Meeting, also in June, to encourage all GPs to resign from their contracts as a result of the cuts.