March 2026 has brought a series of developments that feel less like isolated events and more like a pattern we can no longer ignore. The near‑unanimous rejection of the GP contract, the escalation of doctors’ strikes, the late publication of the PCN DES, and the stark findings of the Covid Inquiry all point to a system that is still struggling to find its footing.

On March 25th, the CQC gave an official response to the 1,700 responses that providers had given in their 'Better Regulation, Better Care' consultation, which closed in December 2025. They are proposing to return to some measures which had previously been used by the CQC but had been abandoned in favour of the Single Assessment Framework. Share your views through the CQC's online survey by 12 June.