Online GP Requests Hit 8M—What It Means for NHS Reform

More than 8 million people submitted a GP request online in October 2025. That’s up 21% on September and up 68% on October last year. Meanwhile, practices still handled 31 million phone calls in the same month and delivered a record 39 million appointments.

Those numbers matter for one reason: general practice is the front door of the NHS. If the front door jams—busy lines, long waits, the old “8am scramble”—everything behind it backs up too. If the front door works, you get faster routing, fewer wasted appointments, and a system that can cope better through winter pressure.

This is one of the clearest signals yet that NHS modernisation isn’t theoretical. It’s happening in volume, at speed, and it’s changing how capacity is used. But it’s not automatically “good” just because it’s digital. The benefits only show up when online requests are designed around triage, fairness, and staffing reality.

Online GP requests are rising because the system finally made space for them

Answer first: Online GP requests surged in October because practices were asked to keep online contact available throughout working hours from 1 October 2025, and because patients increasingly prefer quick, trackable digital routes for straightforward tasks.

The NHS message is simple: contact should be easier, not a competitive sport. When online access is limited to narrow windows—or bolted on as an afterthought—it doesn’t reduce pressure. It just adds another queue. Extending online requests across working hours removes that bottleneck.

There’s also a behavioural shift at play. People manage banking, travel, shopping, and benefits online. Healthcare has lagged behind, largely because of risk, privacy, and legacy systems. The October data suggests a tipping point: when online access is consistently available, many patients use it.

The underappreciated stat: a third of requests aren’t clinical

Around 1 in 3 online requests are non-clinical—things like:

• repeat prescriptions
• admin queries
• fit notes and letters
• chasing test results or referrals

That’s not a small detail. It’s the operational heart of why digital access can help NHS capacity.

When non-urgent admin sits in the same phone queue as acute clinical need, everyone loses: patients wait longer, reception teams take more heat, and clinicians spend time untangling avoidable problems.

Digital access helps NHS capacity when it’s used to route work, not just receive it

Answer first: Online GP requests improve access when they act as a structured intake and triage system—so the right person responds via the right channel—rather than a simple “message your GP” inbox.

A basic truth in healthcare: demand isn’t just “high”. Demand is mixed. Some needs are urgent, some are routine, and some are purely administrative. Treating them all the same is how you get overload.

Online consultation forms (done well) force clarity. They capture:

• what the patient is asking for
• relevant symptoms and duration
• red flags (where appropriate)
• preferred contact method
• supporting details (medication list, photos, home readings)

That structure makes triage faster and safer. It also makes it easier to route work across a multidisciplinary team—GPs, nurses, pharmacists, physios, paramedics, care coordinators—so GPs don’t become the default for everything.

The goal isn’t fewer calls. It’s fewer pointless calls.

October still saw 31 million phone calls—over a million each working day. So digital hasn’t “replaced” phones. And it shouldn’t.

The point is choice plus efficiency:

• Online for routine admin and many straightforward clinical queries
• Phone for people who can’t or don’t want to go online
• In-person when examination, safeguarding, or complexity demands it

If your reform plan depends on eliminating phone access, it’s a bad plan. The better plan is reducing the avoidable calls that clog the system, so urgent needs get through.

“Digital works when it removes friction for simple tasks and creates capacity for complex care.”

Case study: total triage shows what “working” actually looks like

Answer first: The strongest evidence in the RSS story is the Brondesbury Medical Centre example: digital intake paired with GP-led triage, fast routing, and active support for digitally excluded patients.

At Brondesbury Medical Centre in London, Dr Rumshia Ahmad describes a GP-led total triage model introduced in October 2023—every request comes through one “digital front door” and is reviewed by an experienced GP.

Their reported outcomes are exactly the kind of operational wins NHS reform needs:

• Daily phone calls halved
• Missed calls cut by over 80%
• Routine waits reduced from ~2 weeks to ~3 days
• For patients needing continuity, up to 92% of contacts with the same clinician

Those aren’t vague benefits. They’re measurable shifts in access and flow.

Why this model succeeds where others fail

A lot of online access implementations disappoint because they do one thing: collect messages. Brondesbury’s approach does three things:

1. Standardises intake (a single front door)
2. Triages quickly (experienced clinical review)
3. Routes to the right team member (not automatically “book a GP”)

It’s also backed by cloud telephony that supports call-backs—so phone access improves alongside digital access. That combination matters. Modernisation can’t be “digital only”; it has to be service design.

What this means for NHS reform: access is now a capacity strategy

Answer first: The rise in online GP requests supports NHS reform because it reallocates staff time, reduces avoidable friction, and improves the odds of hitting access and waiting-time goals without burning out teams.

NHS reform often gets framed as buildings, workforce, and funding. Those matter, but they’re slow levers. Access design is a faster lever.

The October figures land alongside two policy claims:

• online requests available through working hours across practices (from 1 October)
• investment and recruitment to support delivery (including £1.1 billion and 2,500 more GPs, as stated by the Minister)

Whether those numbers fully meet demand is a bigger debate, but the direction is right: access channels must match modern patient behaviour while protecting those who can’t engage digitally.

Winter pressure makes this urgent (not optional)

It’s December 2025. Winter demand is predictable: respiratory illness, frailty crises, medication issues, and knock-on pressure from hospitals into the community. When general practice access fails, people default to urgent care and A&E.

Online requests won’t stop winter pressure, but they can:

• speed up prescription handling and reduce delays
• help identify red flags earlier via structured questions
• keep phone capacity for the people who genuinely need it

NHS sustainability isn’t just about long-term budgets. It’s also about reducing avoidable workload loops—the “call back tomorrow” cycle that drives repeat contacts.

The risks: digital access can widen inequality if you don’t design for it

Answer first: Online GP requests improve access overall, but without safeguards they risk excluding people with low digital confidence, limited English, disability needs, or unstable housing.

I’m strongly in favour of digital-first access when it’s done ethically. The danger is pretending “digital-first” equals “digital-only”, or assuming everyone has the same tools.

Practical fixes are available, and practices that perform well tend to do the same things:

• Keep phone and walk-in options for those who need them
• Offer supported digital (help completing forms at reception, community support partners)
• Provide accessible forms (simple language, mobile-friendly, screen-reader compatible)
• Monitor access by deprivation, language, age, and disability
• Use triage rules that prioritise safety and continuity, not just speed

Dr Ahmad’s team explicitly reports checking for differences by deprivation, gender, and first language, and actively supporting people who are digitally excluded. That’s the standard we should expect everywhere.

“8am scramble” isn’t solved by technology alone

The 8am rush happens because supply and demand collide at one moment. Online requests available throughout working hours helps spread demand, but you also need:

• enough clinical capacity
• smart routing to pharmacists/nurses/physios
• clear patient messaging about what online is for
• transparent timelines (when to expect a response)

If patients submit online and hear nothing, they call. If they can’t tell whether their request was received, they call again. Digital only reduces pressure when it reduces uncertainty.

What patients and NHS leaders can do next (practical, not theoretical)

Answer first: The next step is making online GP requests consistent, fast to triage, and visibly fair—then measuring whether they reduce repeat contacts and improve continuity.

If you’re running a practice or PCN

Start with operational basics that directly affect access:

1. Set a service standard: “Most requests triaged within X hours.”
2. Separate admin from clinical early: build workflows so admin doesn’t land in a GP queue.
3. Use call-backs by default for non-urgent phone demand.
4. Measure the right metrics:
   • time-to-triage
   • repeat contact rate within 72 hours
   • missed calls
   • continuity for long-term conditions
   • patient satisfaction by demographic group

If you’re shaping policy or commissioning

Prioritise funding and requirements that make digital access work:

• interoperability between online forms and clinical systems
• minimum accessibility and language standards
• reporting that includes fairness (not just volume)
• investment in training and workflow redesign (not only software licences)

If you’re a patient navigating access

A few behaviours genuinely help you get the right outcome faster:

• use online requests for repeat prescriptions and admin when you can
• include key details (duration, severity, home readings, medication list)
• state your preference clearly: phone, message, or appointment
• call urgently if symptoms are severe or rapidly worsening

Where NHS modernisation goes from here

The October 2025 numbers—8 million online requests, 31 million phone calls, 39 million appointments—show a system in transition, not a system “fixed.” But the direction is encouraging: access is becoming multi-channel, more structured, and more measurable.

For the wider Healthcare & NHS Reform series, I see this as a practical example of what sustainability actually looks like. Not slogans. Not shiny apps. It’s the unglamorous work of routing demand properly, protecting equity, and freeing clinicians to focus on care that genuinely needs their expertise.

The next question is the one that will decide whether this reform sticks: can we scale the best versions of online GP access nationwide—without leaving anyone behind and without adding yet another queue?