What do the new rules on online GP appointments mean for you?

We’ve all dealt with the frustration of trying to contact a GP first thing in the morning and not being able to get through.

Now surgery phones across England are being freed up in a major step to end the 8am scramble. 

What is happening?

New measures introduced by NHS England on 1 October mean that surgeries are now required to keep their online services open from 8am-6.30pm from Monday to Friday making it easier for patients to book appointments and ask for medical advice. 

While some surgeries were already offering online access throughout the day, it was not consistent. Many practices turned online requests off when they reached a certain number, while others only made it available for a few hours during the day before cutting it off. 

By making it more convenient for patients to go online when it suits them, the intention is that it will be easier for people to get through on the phone if they need to. And that could be helpful for patients who don’t have online access – or prefer to phone. 

Tips for filling in the online form

Dr Nikita Kanani is a GP at a practice in Lewisham, south-east London, which has been offering patients online services all day for the past year.  

“It means everyone can log in at any point during the day to ask for an appointment, for advice and, most importantly, to describe their symptoms,” she explains, saying that it has worked well for them. 

“What happens next is that those symptoms go to the practice and a team will triage them [assess them for urgency]. In some cases, patients will be offered an appointment on the same day, urgent cases will certainly be prioritised.  

“Some will be sorted out without a face-to-face. It means appointments can be offered out more fairly to patients throughout the day and to the right person who needs to see them.” 

Dr Kanani offers advice on how to fill in the online form to ensure you get the correct assessment. She says: 

• “Be really clear. You don’t need to use medical words or to feel that you need to write a long essay. Just write the main symptoms, how long it has been going on for, if it is new or if it is getting worse.”
• “If you have tried something at home, try to mention that as well.”
• “Write it as if you are telling a friend what is going on. That helps the GP team understand how urgent it is and whether you need to be seen face to face or spoken to on the phone.”
• “If it is an emergency, call 999. The online is for day-to-day care, not for emergencies.” 

What if I don’t have access to a mobile phone or computer?

There are, of course, people who either don’t have digital access or are not confident about filling in forms online. In those cases, you can still telephone your surgery or go in to the practice.  

“The telephone options are still there, the walk in options are still there,” says Dr Kanani. “This online option will work really well for some people, but as we know it won’t work for everyone. If you normally contact your practice by telephone or walking in, you can still do that, if that is the best way to get the care you need.” 

Is this going to work? 

There have been concerns from the doctors’ union, the British Medical Association (BMA), about patient safety, saying that the online system can’t distinguish between what is urgent and non-urgent. Dr Kanani said it was key to ensure that medics are available to assess what patients are telling them.  

“It is not a silver bullet,” she says. “It is not going to fix some of the wider challenges that general practices are going through, so there need to be enough clinicians and staff to respond otherwise people will still be queueing.” 

Louise Ansari, chief executive of independent watchdog Healthwatch England, has welcomed the move. “Patients often tell us how frustrating they find the early-morning scramble for on-the-day GP appointments,” she says.  

“Many people are stuck in long phone queues, only to be told all the appointment slots have gone. People also tell us that online booking systems can be unpredictable – switched on and off at different times during the day with little notice. 

“Giving people the ability to contact their GP using the booking method that most suits them, at any time during their surgery's core hours, is a welcome shift.”