To think there should be a way of reporting GP surgeries that don’t have online booking available from 8.00-6.30

[BurtsB33]

We were told by Wes Streeting that online booking would negate the morning rush, facilitate being able to get GP appointments and more importantly make booking easier. We were told all GP surgeries would now have this.

In reality like many our GP shuts online booking down early in the day. There is no other way to book. It’s far harder to contact our GP surgeries and to see a GP particularly if you work full time.

So if surgeries aren’t keeping to government promises and declaration of what is/ should be happening surely there should be a quick way of reporting them so the situation can be rectified.

Bit late now but should have asked be prescribed Sayana Press. She can then give it herself subcutaneously, dead easy. Review once a year.

It is not the requirement that they have online booking available 8-6.30, the requirement is that they make their online consultation tool available during those hours so that you can send a message requesting an appointment. At the surgery that I work in, a doctor looks at the previous days requests each morning and then the reception team either book an appointment in for you or send you a link with the available appointments on so you can choose your own. We only open bookings for the Doctors appointments for 2 weeks in advance.

How does that work for routine future appointments though

The requirement isn’t to have online booking of appointments available from 8:00-6:30, it is for GPs to make their online consultation available for that timeframe. This includes admin requests such as repeat prescription requests, test results etc as well as the ability to detail medical problems which will be triaged to assess urgency and required action. If your GP is not offering this service during the expected timeframe then you should raise this with the practice manager as a first step.
What it doesn’t have to offer is a system where anybody can log in during that time and a book an appointment without any triage, as it would very quickly result in no available appointments for anyone, let alone the urgent cases.
What an online consultation tool does is remove the scramble for appointments at 8am. In my experience it was impossible to get through and it was a case of fastest fingers first, and I would be stuck in a queue for half an hour or more whilst dealing with a sick baby.
Fortunately my GP practice was an early adopter of online (and telephone) triage meaning anyone looking for an emergency appointment was triaged by a nurse practitioner or doctor and either offered an appointment (sometimes they call, sometimes they send a booking link to book online especially if non urgent), prescribed medication if required, asked to book blood tests with a follow up, or given advice of how to manage condition without needing an appointment.
I have as much chance of getting a same day appointment if I contact them at 11am or 2pm or 4pm, as if I contact them first thing at 8am.
It works really well, for both urgent and non-urgent matters. I can contact them when it is convenient, or when it becomes urgent. I hate having to phone, especially at work. Most recently I completed an online consultation, within 5 minutes I had a call asking if I could come in to the surgery in the next 15 minutes. Equally for non-urgent matters I can complete the online consultation and I get a link to book an appointment in a week or so’s time, and can pick the doctor and time I want, but only after it’s been deemed that I need an appointment, not just me deciding I want to book one which is what I think a lot of people are expecting.
If your practice isn’t offering this then they will continue to have problems with availability of appointments. It may be that they are reluctant to change their ways of working but they should be forced to move with the times and there are plenty of good examples to learn from.

Greater number of elderly often with several multiple co-morbidities who are frail, in very poor health and unable to cope at home, yes.

But those people in these new houses would have been registered with a GP elsewhere, presumably freeing up spaces at other surgeries?

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/online-gp-appointment-requests-available-everywhere-from-today#:~:text=GP%20phone%20lines%20across%20the,exactly%20what%20we're%20delivering.

Yes it is- the government says

“From today (1 October 2025), patients will be able to request appointments, ask questions and describe symptoms online throughout the day rather than calling their surgery or visiting in person. This will help free up practice phone lines for those who need them most, and make it more convenient to access appointments.”

The law says they have to be open until 6.30pm. Not until they are "full" (which is about 8.15am).

Although they'd have few people using it if they gave prescriptions for a longer time. For example my husband needs eye drops for the rest of his life. He's not planning to drop dead any time soon so they could safely give him say six months at a time, rather than few weeks' worth. That would save a few "appointments" when he has to request the next batch.

I imagine GP surgeries do have at least one member of staff working until 6.30 if this is what the law requires but when their appointments are filled they’re filled. What do you expect the staff to do? Keep offering appointments with nobody to staff them?

I don’t disagree… My baby needs prescription milk and I have to request it monthly via an e consult but a pharmacist looks at it and not a GP. The NHS is inefficiently run but that’s not what I see in my GP surgery or hear from friends. My GP offers back to back 10 minute slots, I’m not sure how many more they could offer without more staff. The two GP’s I know have left their jobs within the last year because they’d been worked in to the ground. I also have plenty of frustrations with my GP surgery I just don’t understand how anybody expects more appointments without more money or resources.

Then the government should have put that in the regulations they enacted and the contract changes they made. The requirement is that patients can contact the practice during core hours by phone, electronically (online) or in person.

Its usually better to reference the legalisation rather than the press release.

This is extremely naive, and frankly, is your problem.

If you wish to complain, you do so to the ICB in your area. It will get you nowhere though as they’re fully aware of the funding constraints.

Wes Streeting saying something doesn’t magic up more workforce, more buildings (which is often the problem, lack of space to put staff in), more appointments. You may feel it’s not your problem, but it really is.

But we can’t contact them during core hours to book an appointment or to do anything that is done on the online system as they tell us to fill out an online form which is switched off.

The extra £1.1 billion surgeries were given would surely help magic up some of that.

I mean, it’s shit when then happens but I don’t expect the staff to work unpaid over time to make sure I get an appointment because Wes decided to set unrealistic expectations without ensuring adequate staffing.

I had to take my 4 week old, post c section to the GP surgery and stand outside to get them seen after the out of hours GP didn’t know what to do. It was freezing, he was poorly and I was just about ok to drive (yes I had the go ahead medically and from insurance). I’d driven him to the out of hours GP at 5am and then straight to the GP and was second outside at 7.30 am. I was pissed off that morning but it wasn’t at the GP. It is my responsibility and my problem to solve as his Mum (and yes I am a tax payer).

I don’t think being able to book an appointment 2,3 or 4 weeks in advance during set hours is an unrealistic expectation .

Magic up more square footage? There is lots of bureaucracy involved and often years worth of work to change buildings.

If you don’t know the system, that’s fine, complain. But like I told you, the ICB won’t care as they realise the demands on primary care are unmanageable with the current set up.

The public need to take more responsibility for their own health. The government need to stop building houses without increasing services. And like I said, money isn’t the only constraint here.

This isn’t true at my surgery. There are a small number of appointments available at 7.45 but they’ve all been snapped up by 7.45 and 20 seconds. There are still appointments available but you have to ring up at 8am to book one. If you can get through.

I’m with you there but you clearly have zero understanding of the reality.

If the GP has the ability to only offer emergency same day appointments to people who are acutely unwell OR pre booked appointments to those who can wait 4 weeks then I understand why they don’t. Of course it shouldn’t be that way but it is in some practices. You either figure it out or don’t get seen.

Trust me I only contact the GP for myself, elderly parent and children I all care for only when I absolutely have to.

Taking care of yourself also involves booking appointments with Gps in a timely fashion when there are concerns and also screening.

Im starting to think im just not explaining what I mean very well. I dont think i can be any clearer/simpler though.

I know that sounds like im being a snippy dickhead. Im genuinely not.

All i can say if my GP surgery, which had been very very shit when it was close down request system at 8.05am are managing keeping it open really well. Now if you put a request in at say 4pm, you might get a response by 4pm next day depending on how its triaged. Or within 2 days if not urgent. Then appointment given accordingly which could be same day, next, or week later. Which is what I mean when I say roll over.

There's no "end" to the days / appointments available because, umm, there is no end to the days available explaining what i mean shite again

Don’t worry, that poster is talking utter nonsense.

@Rainydayinlondon I’m pretty sure MN was full of GP bashing threads in 2019 unfortunately. The simple fact is there are more patients needing appointments than there are appointments to give them. And there is no “one size fits all”. People with chronic ill health want to be able to prebook. Fit healthy people prefer on-the-day appointments for their rare problems. Most surgeries offer a mixture but it’s still not enough. Historically surgeries had 2000 registered patients per full time GP. My surgery now has 2500. And we’re not allowed to close our list.

It really is the most basic maths.

If 10 people are in a shop and they all want a loaf of bread, but there are only 8 loaves of bread left, 2 people can’t have a loaf of bread.

My GP removed all online booking during covid and have never reinstated it 😡

I believe that since 2019 the population has grown by 2.9 million. Meanwhile, the number of GP surgeries has dropped by 1000.

This is a good point.

Think how many times you have seen a new housing estate built in your area. And think how many times you have seen a new GP surgery built…..