Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the triage system used by some GP practices which requires all contact by patients seeking a GP appointment to be conducted online.

We published our Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care in May 2023, which sets out how we are moving toward a Modern General Practice (GP) model. This plan is backed by £240 million of retargeted funding, going to providing digital services, with the goal of increasing access. The plan sets out how, by improving digital access to GPs, we will free up capacity for those patients who want to contact their practice by telephone or in-person. We are also clear that online tools must always be provided in addition to, rather than as a replacement for, other channels for accessing GPs.

The sole method for GPs to procure these digital services is via NHS England’s procurement frameworks, which list pre-approved suppliers for digital and IT services. This is to ensure consistency in service provisions, as each supplier must meet a set of requirements to be entered into a framework.

As of March 2024, 93% of GPs now have digital telephony systems. This has enabled GP teams to manage multiple calls, helping to end the 8:00am rush for appointments. Trials show that this has increased patients’ ability to get through to their practice by almost a third.