All GP surgeries in England are required to offer online appointment bookings from today.
Practices must keep their websites and app services available from at least 8am to 6.30pm, Monday through Friday, for non-urgent appointments, medication queries and admin requests.
Many surgeries are already offering online bookings and consultations, but services are typically less effective in working-class areas.
The Department of Health and Social Care says there is a lack of consistency, as some surgeries that offer online services are choosing to switch the function off during busier periods.
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The British Medical Association (BMA) has argued safeguards have not been put in place, nor have extra staff been brought in to manage what it anticipates will be a “barrage of online requests.”
The BMA has said GPs are considering a range of actions after voting to enter a dispute with the government over the plan.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has urged the BMA to embrace the plan, saying the union’s resistance is “a real disservice to so many GPs” who have already introduced the service.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting says booking a GP appointment should be as easy as booking a takeaway. Pic: PA
‘As easy as booking a takeaway’
The minister said the government will help practices that need assistance to implement the plan, “but we’ve got to modernise”.
Mr Streeting told the Labour Party conference: “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.”
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The measure is part of the broader government pledge to transform the NHS.
Sir Keir Starmer has revealed plans to establish a nationwide “online hospital” by 2027, enabling patients to receive treatment and care from home.
The government said the initiative could provide up to 8.5 million additional NHS appointments within its first three years.
Available via the NHS app, it will allow patients to schedule in-person procedures at local hospitals, surgical hubs or diagnostic centres, reducing delays.
