Major change for booking GP appointments comes into force

Big changes are coming

For some time now, most GP surgeries have offered online bookings, but often in limited number and only for a certain period of time during the day.

Now, under new rules, Doctor's surgeries will have to keep websites and app services available for at least 8am to 6.30pm from Monday to Friday.

This concerns non-urgent appointments, medication queries and admin requests.

The change comes into force from today.

The Department of Health and Social Care said there was a lack of consistency with only some surgeries offering online services while often choosing to switch off bookings during busier times.

However, the British Medical Association (BMA) has said that contingencies have not been put into place, fearing a "barrage of online requests."

In response, GPs are reportedly considering a range of actions after voting to enter dispute with the government over the plan, as per the BMA.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has called resistance "a real disservice to so many GPs" and urged the BMA to embrace the plan.

Streeting said the government will help practices adapt to the new plan, but said "we've got to modernise".

He told the Labour Party Conference on Monday (29 September): "Many GPs already offer this service because they've changed with the times.

"Why shouldn't be booking a GP appointment be as easy as booking a delivery, a taxi, or a takeaway? And our policy comes alongside a billion pounds of extra funding for general practice and 2,000 extra GPs.

"Yet the BMA threatens to oppose it in 2025. Well, I'll give you this warning; if we give in to the forces of conservatism, they will turn the NHS into a museum of 20th century healthcare."