Increasing numbers of Londoners are going online to book their GP appointments – with over one million GP appointments now made via GP online services.

GP online services allows people to book and cancel appointments, order repeat prescriptions, and access parts of their GP record online. It’s quick, easy and all information is secure.

Many GPs find that this approach also helps them at their surgery. Dr Phil Koczan is a London GP and Digital Clinical Champion for the London region. Dr Koczan’s surgery has seen one quarter of its patient list sign up to GP online services.

He said: “It’s really amazing that over one million appointments have now been made online using GP online services. We live in an increasingly digital world and just as other aspects of our lives can now be managed online – managing your own healthcare can be personal and convenient too.

“The service is making a huge difference, not only to our patients who are using the service to book appointments and order repeat medications online, but also to GP surgery staff who work incredibly hard and are extremely busy throughout the day. As the number of patients using online services increases, the workload of reception staff will decrease. I can’t emphasis enough how much Londoners can benefit from this fantastic service as surgeries embrace this and at every opportunity, I am encouraging more GP surgeries to get involved.”

Ron Wright, who is a patient at Ripple Road Medical Centre in Barking, uses GP online services to book his appointments and order prescriptions.

“It’s sometimes difficult to fit things like booking your GP appointments into your day, especially when you’re busy and it doesn’t suit to ring your GP at certain times – convenience and flexibility are the main reasons why I signed up to GP online services and it’s been really great for me. It saves me a lot of time and  allows me  the freedom to plan my time  better.”

Signing up is quick and simple, people need to tell their GP surgery that they would like to register, fill in a quick form and have their  ID checked. Patients will then receive their unique username and password, they can start using online services straight away.

To find out more, www.nhs.uk/GPonlineservices