The NHS is running ‘stress test’ exercises and providing targeted care for vulnerable patients, as it strengthens its plans to winter-proof the health service. Throughout September, local NHS leaders will test the robustness of their winter plans by participating in scenario exercises such as staff shortages, rapid increase in demand, and multiple virus outbreaks. Local […]
General practice teams have delivered a record 33.6 million appointments in July 2025, up 4.3% on the year before and up nearly a quarter on the same period pre-pandemic (24.3% increase since 2019). Today’s statistics show the NHS is on-track for its busiest summer ever in general practice, with record appointments also delivered in June 2025. GP teams […]
The NHS performed a record number of checks for treatments, cancer checks and other tests for June, as 18-week performance hit its best level in 3 years. NHS staff pulled out all the stops to treat a record number of patients in any June, with 103,563 – or 2% – more treatments delivered than the […]
New NHS figures show general practice has delivered over 7 million more appointments in the past year compared to last year, taking the total to a record 380 million. Hardworking GP teams carried out 383.3m appointments in the last 12 months, compared to 375.7m in the previous year. Figures for June 2025 also show practices […]
Hardworking NHS staff delivered record numbers of treatments as the waiting list fell in May for the first time in 17 years*, new figures reveal today. Monthly NHS data shows the overall waiting list dropped by nearly 30,000 in May to 7.36 million – the lowest total since March 2023 – with 60.9% waiting 18 […]
GP practices across England can now access new technology with the introduction of the first new core IT system for 25 years. As part of reforms to increase competition and innovation in the market, NHS England has approved the first of a new generation of electronic patient record systems for GPs – with more suppliers […]
More accurate human papillomavirus (HPV) testing will enable millions of women and people with a cervix in England to benefit from more personalised cervical screening from next month, the NHS has announced today. From July, younger women (aged 25 to 49) who test negative for HPV, meaning they are at very low risk of cervical […]
Around 3 in 4 patients find it easy to contact a GP, up more than 10% since last summer as the NHS drives to improve access. Almost every (99%) GP practice in England now has a digital telephone system in place to make it easier for people to get through to their family doctor. Office […]
All new patients registering at GP practices are to be asked if they had a blood transfusion before 1996, as part of an NHS drive to find undiagnosed patients affected by the contaminated blood scandal. Each year, around 400,000 people born before 1996 – around half of new sign-ups online – will now be asked […]
GPs are providing millions more appointments to people in England and better access through upgraded technology, the NHS has said today. New figures, published today, show that there were 31.4 million GP appointments in March – up 6.1% on the same period a year earlier with the figure a fifth (19.8%) higher than pre-pandemic. At […]
Millions of patients can now register with a new GP at the touch of a button via the NHS App and online as part of a major health service drive to make care more convenient and free up staff time. New figures show the number of practices where patients can join online has more than doubled in the […]