Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of new online consultation requirements on patient access to GP care.

General practices (GPs) are independent businesses contracted by the National Health Service to deliver essential services, and as part of these contracts they are required to provide modern telephony systems, online consultation tools, and ensure that receptions are open during core hours. In the 2025 contract negotiations with the General Practitioners Committee England, an agreement was reached to ensure online consultation systems are available throughout core hours. These changes are designed to improve access to GPs, end the 8:00am scramble, and ensure parity across all access options.

In January 2026, there has been an increase of 4.1 million online consultation submissions compared to January 2025. Office for National Statistics data from January 2026 shows that 76.8% of patients found it “easy” to contact their GP, up from 60.9% in July 2024. In the year to January 2026, including COVID-19 vaccinations, an additional six million appointments were delivered compared with the previous 12 months.