Millions of people are using online consultation requests to contact their GP practice each month, as the NHS gives people more choice in how they can safely contact their family doctor.

New figures show 6.5 million online consultation requests were submitted to GPs in September 2025, up half compared to the same period last year [4.4 million in September 2024].

From October 1, every GP practice in England has been required to keep their online consultation platform open for the duration of their working hours for non-urgent appointment requests, medication queries, and admin requests.

One GP practice in Sheffield said the move has “obliterated the 8am rush” of people ringing their practice each morning and freed up phone lines for patients with the most urgent clinical needs.

People needing to see a GP more urgently can continue to call or drop into their local practice.

GP practices continue to offer face-to-face appointments, with 20.1 million delivered in September 2025.

Recent ONS figures found the most popular way for patients to contact GP practices was online – beating phone calls for the first time.

Dr Amanda Doyle, NHS England’s national director for primary care and community services, said: “We know how frustrating it is for patients and practices when people are unable to get through on the phone to their practice, particularly first thing in the morning.

“That’s why we’ve upgraded thousands of GP telephone systems and started to offer more modern options such as submitting their initial request online to fit around people’s busy lives – freeing up phone lines for the most urgent cases in the process.

“And we’re starting to see the positive impact this is having with seven in ten adults saying it was easy to get through to their practice, up from six in ten in 2024.

“While more GPs are telling us that it has made their lives so much easier by making online consultation requests available to patients.”

Secretary of State Wes Streeting said: “This data is crystal clear: more patients are seeking GP appointments online – even before the requirement came into place on 1 October. In the 21st century, patients expect the ease, convenience and flexibility of managing their healthcare online.

“We are grateful to the majority of practices who have been delivering this service successfully.

“For too long patients have been held hostage by our outdated, analogue system of the 8am scramble on phone lines causing stress, difficulty and long waits to get through and get appointments.

“Patients want this change and we’re delivering it – we’ve put in £1.1 billion extra funding, provided the support, and now it’s time for the few lagging practices to get on board, move with the times, and provide the service patients deserve.”

People can contact their practice by phone, walk-ins and now via online consultations – with digital access proving popular with busy families.

Almost every GP practice in England has also upgraded their telephone systems so that people can easily contact their GP.

NHS support is available for any practices struggling to meet the GP contract requirement that from 1 October 2025 patients should be able to make online requests during practice opening hours.

Steel City practice in Sheffield ended its 8am rush for appointments thanks to its online consultation system.

Josie Matthews, the Practice Business Manager at Steel City in Sheffield, said: “It’s obliterated the 8am rush, having all this digital help, it’s fantastic. It’s helped get around the issue of people having to ring first thing in the morning to secure an appointment and then call back the next day if none were available.

“It’s also useful for communicating with patients because it’s secure and quick. For example, if a patient contacts us about a rash their child has, we can ask them to send a photo of it and then the GP can review it and make an immediate judgement on whether they need to come in or urgently go to a hospital.

Dr Krishna Kasaraneni, GP Partner at the Sheffield specialist GP training practice, said: “We’ve focused our improvements on access. By that I mean the patients who need the most support can get it easily.”

Steel City turned on its online consultation system over two years to enhance its service for patients and offer them the choice of multiple access routes, walk in, telephone and online. All requests are dealt with using the same approach so that patients are treated the same regardless of how they have made contact.