Health minister Stephen Kinnock met with ICBs this week to discuss GP online access, to identify areas that are struggling to rollout the recent contract changes and how the Government can help support them.
From 1 October, every practice has been required to keep their online consultation platform open during working hours for non-urgent appointment requests, medication queries and admin requests.
Mr Kinnock said it was a constructive call and that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) would support practices that are struggling with the new requirements.
However, the DHSC has said that if practices refuse to meet their contractual duties, ICBs can take formal action. This could include issuing warning notices, applying sanctions or in serious cases ending contracts.
NHS England data recently showed that GP practices received 6.5 million online consultation requests in September, the month before the contract changes came into effect.
This figure is up by half compared to the same period last year, where there were 4.4 million in September 2024. Dr Amanda Doyle, NHS England’s national director for primary care, said this showed the ‘positive impact’ that upgrading GP telephone systems and offering ‘more modern options’ for patients to communicate with practices was having.
She added that: ‘More GPs are telling us that it has made their lives so much easier by making online consultation requests available to patients.’
However, a recent survey by our sister titles Pulse and Management in Practice estimated that the average GP was spending around 53 minutes per week on implementing the changes, while non-GP clinical staff spent 42 minutes on average, and admin staff 31 minutes.
Projected out to the entire full time equivalent (FTE) GP workforce in England (38,860), this equates to over 34,000 GP hours each week.
The survey had 431 respondents, both GPs and practice managers, and encompassed 412 practices.
Following the call with ICBs, Mr Kinnock said: ‘In the 21st century, patients want and rightly expect to be able to contact their GP online. We know that for the first time ever, more patients are contacting their GP practice online than by phone.
‘It’s fantastic that most practices have successfully rolled out their online consultation service – now it’s time to support the remaining few to get this up and running everywhere.’
He added that ‘the tools and resources are there to deliver a modernised service fit for the future’, following the recruitment of 2,500 more GPs via the additional roles reimbursement scheme, and the recent investment into general practice.
It comes as ICBs have been told to ‘look beyond’ healthcare providers in their role as strategic commissioners.
A version of this story was first published on our sister title Pulse PCN.
