What happened?
As part of NHS England’s commitment to improving patient access, GP practices accross England are now required to keep their online access tools open throughout ‘core hours’ (8am-6:30pm, Monday to Friday).
This means you can send requests for advice or appointments anytime the surgery is open online
Important
- Medical requests received before 5:30pm will be actioned the same day
- Medical requests received after 5:30pm will be actioned on the next working day
Why this matters
With more patients using online requests, GPs now need to review every request to decide which are most urgent. This ensures patients with the most serious health needs are seen first.
However, practices haven’t received extra funding to manage the additional requests. This means there may be fewer immediate appointments available, as doctors spend time reviewing the online forms before offering appointments.
A bit of context
On average, a GP practice in England receives £112.50 per patient per year– roughly 31p per patient per day. With this money, surgeries cannot give an appointment to everyone straight away, so they prioritise patients based on clinical need.
While online consultations are available during core hours, this does not guarantee an instant appointment. Doctors and the practice team work hard to ensure urgent cases are seen quickly, and some patients may be directed to see a different healthcare professional, such as a physiotherapist, mental health worker, clinical pharmacist, or nurse practitioner.
How busy is the NHS?
If there was an ‘average’ day for the NHS in England (based on 2024) it would look like this:
- more than 1.3 million people would attend a GP appointment
- more than 304,000 people would attend an outpatient appointment
- nearly 35,000 people would call 999 for an ambulance
- nearly 46,000 people would attend a major A&E department, and nearly a third of these A&E patients would be admitted into hospital
- more than 288,000 people would receive community health care.
The majority of NHS activity is in primary care- your GP surgery. In 2023/24, here were an estimated 353 million appointments in primary care, with two-thirds being face-to-face.
Source: The Kings’s Fund analysis of NHS England data
What this means for you
- You can use online tools during core hours for advice, prescriptions, and appointments
- Appointments may not always be immediately available, but urgent cases are prioritised
- GPs and the practice team are working hard to make sure everyone gets the care they need
We appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to provide safe, effective care for all our patients.