GPs are providing millions more appointments to people in England and better access through upgraded technology, the NHS has said today.
New figures, published today, show that there were 31.4 million GP appointments in March – up 6.1% on the same period a year earlier with the figure a fifth (19.8%) higher than pre-pandemic.
At Lingwell Croft Surgery in Leeds they no longer have an 8am rush for appointments because patients with digital access can use online consultation forms, freeing up telephone and walk-in options for those patients that do not want to go online.
The practice uses voice recognition technology as part of their telephone contact system with voice messages automatically and immediately transcribed so patients can be quickly triaged and directed to see the right health and care professional.
2 GPs work alongside 2 care navigators to triage the patient requests, with GPs prioritising the most complex cases and other patients provided with more appropriate services for their needs, such as one of the health and care professionals working in the practice team, including nurses, physios or paramedics.
The new contract will modernise general practice by requiring GP surgeries to allow patients to request appointments online throughout working hours from October, freeing up the phones for those who need them most and making it easier for practices to triage patients based on medical need.
Almost every (99%) GP practice in England has also upgraded their phone tech with the move meaning that phone lines can be expanded.
Latest figures show an extra 1,503 GPs have been recruited since October 2024.
Dr Amanda Doyle, National Director for Primary Care and Community Services said: “For some patients contacting their practice using online methods can be more convenient and easier to access care for their health needs and it’s great to see practices, such as Lingwell Croft Surgery, making advances in the use of technology to support this shift for people who are confident to do so, and have digital access.
“However there’s still more to do to make it easier for patients to contact and see their local GP, which includes making even better use of new technology to improve patient care”.
Professor Bola Owolabi, a GP and NHS England’s Director of Healthcare Inequalities said: “Improving access to general practice is an NHS priority and GP teams are delivering 30 million appointments every month – up almost a fifth since before the pandemic.
“Thanks to GPs and their hardworking teams, more than a million appointments were delivered each working day last month, up by almost 20% compared with the same period pre-pandemic with plans in place to improve access even further.
“Patients can also use the NHS app to order repeat prescriptions and view their test results without needing to contact their family doctor”.
Case study
Dr Stephan Claridge, GP at Lingwell Croft Surgery in Leeds said his practice now receives an average of 350 e-consultations a day from a 16,000 patient list size.
He said generally younger patients are happier to use online consultations while older patients tend to prefer phoning, and they can leave immediate voicemails which are transcribed using voice recognition technology into the online consultation triage system.
Dr Claridge said: “Safety is a massive thing for me. I was an A&E trainee before going into general practice and the triage system that seemed to work most effectively is the most experienced clinician at the front door.
“It’s much better access and it’s made a big difference for care navigation – patients are seeing the right person straight away”.
