New NHS figures show general practice has delivered over 7 million more appointments in the past year compared to last year, taking the total to a record 380 million.
Hardworking GP teams carried out 383.3m appointments in the last 12 months, compared to 375.7m in the previous year.
Figures for June 2025 also show practices delivered 31.4 million appointments, which is a record for June and nearly a third more than the same period pre-pandemic (a 31.9% increase).
The data published today comes amid rising patient satisfaction, with ONS’ experiences of NHS healthcare services in England revealing that 72.4% of people found contacting their GP practice easy – up from 60% less than a year ago (September 2024). Furthermore, 72.9% of people rated their overall GP experience as good, compared with 67.4% last year.
The latest GP Patient Survey also shows steady gains in public satisfaction: 53% found it easy to contact their practice by phone (up from 50%), and 49% found the NHS app easy to use – almost double the 25% figure from the previous year.
Amanda Doyle, NHS England National Director for Primary Care and Community Services, said: “General practice teams have been working exceptionally hard to boost access and turn our services around, with today’s data showing important progress as over 7 million additional appointments were delivered in the past year, taking the total to more than 380 million appointments.
“While services improve and patient satisfaction has started to rise, we know more needs to be done to improve access, which is why we remain committed to working with the government on delivering the 10-year plan to boost access and improve primary care services for patients.”
Health Minister, Ashley Dalton, said: “We are on a mission to rebuild our health service and give people better access to care when they need it.
“By cutting red tape, increasing capacity, and helping GPs spend less time filling out paperwork, 7 million additional GP appointments were delivered in the past year – 31.4 million appointments for June alone – meaning more patients getting time with their doctor and spending less time on a waiting list.
“Through our 10 Year Health Plan we are shifting care from hospitals to community. Our Plan for Change will deliver Neighbourhood Health Services that will put GPs at the heart of delivering more personalised, proactive care in local areas when it is more convenient for patients.”
The NHS 10 Year health Plan also sets out to reduce the administrative burden on practices by introducing the rollout of ambient voice technology, digital triage, and a single patient record – reducing the need for time-consuming tasks like note taking, letter drafting and manual data entry, so GPs can spend more time with patients.
Last week, the Government announced that an extra 2,000 GPs have been recruited through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS).
