GPs are set to face a controversial new contract that will limit rewards for "bureaucratic tick-box exercises" and will require them to do more work for less money, as the government presses ahead with its plans to shake up funding.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt todaylaunched a 12-week consultation on the government's proposed changes to the GP contract, despite failing to reach an agreement with the British Medical Association (BMA).

The proposals would include a hike in GP quality and outcomes framework (QOF) reward thresholds and see £164 million moved away from red-tape exercise" into "actions that will directly benefit patients", the government said.

"Standards of care in this country must be world class – and we should continuously strive to improve. This is why the GP contract must change" Jeremy Hunt, health secretary	More on GPs Pharmacists urged to work with GPs to get services       commissioned GPs must avoid conflicts of interest on CCGs GPs must trust in pharmacists to reduce workload
	New indicators recommended by Nice would be introduced and up to £10m invested annually in two new GP-led vaccination programmes for rotavirus and shingles. Any future increase in the value of GP contract payments would be targeted towards practices that have less current funding. The Department of Health admitted it would create more work for GPs to achieve the same amount of funding.

But the contract would stop some GP practices unfairly receiving "thousands of pounds more than others" and promote "potentially lifesaving care", said Mr Hunt. He stressed that new funding arrangements would help achieve his goals of improving diagnosis of dementia and support for patients with long-term conditions.

"Standards of care in this country must be world class – and we should continuously strive to improve. This is why the GP contract must change," argued Mr Hunt. "Our proposals will make sure we support the patients most in need and will help save lives in practices across the country."

But the proposals were met with scepticism from the BMA, who argued that the funding proposals could have unintended consequences. "The government's proposals may sound attractive on the face of it and some of their suggestions are good, however they have not fully considered the overall impact on practices of all these changes being implemented together," said Laurence Buckman, chair of the BMA's GP committee.

Dr Buckman said practices could struggle to maintain standards of care, "let alone increase their capacity" under the proposed funding.

"The unacceptable way the government has handled these negotiations should not set a precedent for future negotiations," he added, urging the government to adopt a "cooperative and consultative approach".