Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2025 to Question 85520 on General Practitioners, what steps he is taking to improve access to GPs for people who are solely reliant on telephone bookings.

To support patients who depend on telephone bookings, recent contractual changes require all general practices to offer online booking throughout core hours, from 08:00 to 18:30. This is designed to ease pressure on phone lines by allowing those who prefer online booking to do so at any time, reducing long phone queues for patients who wish to continue using the telephone system. By better managing demand through expanded online access, practices can free up phone lines and improve the experience for those reliant on telephone bookings.

The GP Contract is also clear that patients should always have the option of telephoning or visiting their practice in person so that patients without access to telephone or online services are in no way disadvantaged.