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The BMA is urging general practices across England to stop sharing “non-essential” patient data with third parties as part of a fresh wave of collective action. The union’s General Practitioners Committee for England (GPCE) said it had received “insufficient assurances” from the government to allay its widespread concerns over the new contract for 2026-27, which was rejected by 98.9% of almost 17 000 BMA GP members in March.1 Despite NHS England backpedalling on controversial targets to cut referrals2 and softening new demands for general practice access, the committee said its key priority of how GPs fulfil their contract when faced with unlimited demand for same day urgent care outstripping practice capacity “remains a profound concern.” As such, the BMA is now recommending that practices engage in collective action by not signing up to any new voluntary data sharing agreements (DSAs) that extract patients’ data for secondary uses, such as medical research by charities, commercial third parties, and …