Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many GP practices have been assessed as not complying with the contractual requirement to provide online access during core hours since 1 October 2025; and what action is being taken to increase compliance.

I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided on 6 July in response to Question HL1318, which, for ease of reference, is reproduced below.

General practices (GPs) are independent business that hold contracts with the National Health Service to perform essential services to the public. We require practices to provide online consultation tools. From 1 October 2025, GPs have been required to offer access to online services throughout core hours, 8:00am to 18:30pm, bringing online access in line with walk-in and phone access. This change aims to improve patient access, reduce long phone queues, and help GPs manage demand more effectively

NHS England collects data on GP appointments, online consultation submissions, and cloud-based telephony. This data shows that 99% of practices have reported having an online consultation system in place. Where a practice does not comply with these contractual requirements, it may be in breach of contract. Patients who have concerns should contact their practice in the first instance, or raise the matter with their local integrated care board.