GP appointments to be booked online to end ‘8am scrabble’

Patients will be able to request GP appointments online from October 2025, under changes to the GP contract.

The deal agreed on 27 February 2025 between the government and the British Medical Association (BMA) aims to free doctors from red tape to concentrate on treating patients.

Under the new contract, nearly half of the targets (32 of 76) that GPs must report their progress against will be removed, including a target for practices to explain how they are reviewing staff access to IT systems.

The measures are backed by an extra £889 million for general practice, bringing total spend on the GP contract to £13.2bn in 2025/26.

Commenting on the deal, Wes Streeting, health secretary, said: “Rebuilding the broken NHS starts with GPs.

“Patients need to be able to easily book an appointment, in the manner they want, with their regular doctor if they choose.

“Today, we have taken the first step to fixing the front door to the NHS, bringing back the family doctor, and ending the 8am scramble.

“Over the past decade, funding for GPs has been cut relative to the rest of the NHS, while the number of targets for GPs has soared. That’s why patients are struggling to get an appointment.

“This government is cutting the red tape that ties up GPs time and backing them with an extra £889 million next year.

In return, more patients will be able to request appointments online and see their regular doctor for each appointment.”

By allowing patients to book appointments online, the new contract aims to modernise general practice and make it easier for practices to triage patients based on medical need.

Patients will also be provided with clearer information about the care they can expect to receive through the online patient charter – including the services available to them.

Dr Amanda Doyle, national director for primary care and community services at NHS England, said: “Improving patients’ access to general practice is a huge priority for the NHS and this contract sets out the next steps to put the family doctor at the heart of the shift to a neighbourhood health service.”

She added that the contract “shows how NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care have listened and delivered on the priorities that matter most to patients and general practice teams, including a significant increase in funding and extra flexibility in the additional roles reimbursement scheme to recruit more staff including GPs.”

“Other key changes include improved digital access for patients, setting out what patients can expect from their practice in a new charter and encouraging GP teams to identify patients with the greatest need that would most benefit from seeing the same clinician at every appointment,” Doyle said.

A majority of respondents to the government’s Change NHS online portal have stated fixing difficulties in accessing primary care as a top three priority, and a poll by The Health Foundation found it was the top health concern for 38% of the public.