All GPs will earn more under the deal

The BMA published proposed new terms and conditions for GPs working in the NHS in February.

However, a nationwide ballot of doctors - scheduled to take place in March - was postponed after it emerged some GPs may actually lose out if they accept the deal.

The BMA said on Thursday it had now secured agreement to ensure no doctor would be worse off under the new contract.

The announcement came as ministers pledged to press ahead with plans to introduce a new contract for consultants.

Senior hospital doctors rejected proposed changes to the way they work last year. But Health Minister John Hutton said the contract would be introduced anyway "where consultants want it".

The BMA criticised the move and said doctors could now consider taking industrial action.

Income guarantee

The deal for GPs means every doctor will be offered a "minimum practice income guarantee" ensuring a rise in income if they back contract.

The guarantee follows intensive talks between the BMA and the NHS Confederation, which negotiated the contract on behalf of the government.

No practice will be worse off providing they deliver a minimum level of quality Health Minister John Hutton

According to the BMA, it has the backing of health ministers in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The BMA and the government will be hoping the income guarantee will save the GP contract not least because of last year's decision by senior hospital doctors to reject proposed changes to the way they work.

The BMA has written to the UK's 43,000 GPs to explain how the new guarantee.

It states: "We have listened to and are responding to your concerns and fears by introducing a guarantee that no-one loses from the new arrangements."

The proposed contract will be discussed at a special meeting of GP representatives in May. A new date for a nationwide ballot is not expected to be set until then.

A spokesman told BBC News Online: "It is still our intention to have a ballot. A decision on this will be made following the special meeting in May."

Health Minister John Hutton confirmed that no GPs will lose out under the new contract.

He said: "No practice will be worse off providing they deliver a minimum level of quality. Indeed, as a result of the new contract - and the investment and reform it unlocks - the public, patients and general practice all benefit."

The BMA spent two years negotiating the contract with NHS managers. The deal aims to radically change the way they work and the way primary care services are delivered.

Under the plan, total spending on primary care will rise by 33% over the next three years - to �8bn by 2006.

GPs would be paid according to the quality of care they provide. Additional money would also be given to those with the sickest patients and those working in areas with the greatest health needs.

Shadow Health Secretary Dr Liam Fox said the GPs deal was a "a desperate damage limitation exercise made necessary by the wholesale destruction of trust between GPs, their negotiators and the government."

He added: "Alan Milburn clearly fears that the GPs will follow the consultants in rejecting the government's contract plans, leaving him isolated and opposed by the entire medical profession."