GP surgeries in England are required to allow patients to book appointments online from today – but the rollout has exposed the fragmented nature of the ‘digital NHS‘.
Starting October 1, surgeries are required to allow people to request callbacks between 8am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday for medical issues, and can also fill in forms for non-urgent services such as repeat prescriptions and vaccinations.
Patients cannot book appointments directly under the new rules – instead, the new system allows them to request a callback that GPs will prioritise themselves.Â
However, some are reporting mixed results, or have been unable to access the request forms at all thanks to the litany of patient management systems used by different medical practices.
A number of GP surgeries are already refusing to follow the new regime and the British Medical Association (BMA) has now entered into a formal dispute with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) over the rollout.
The BMA had warned that doctors would begin working to rule if the introduction of the system was not postponed, amid concerns that GPs would face a ‘tsunami’ of online triaging as they tried to prioritise patients.
The move was meant to put paid to the ‘8am scramble’ for urgent appointments that have become a part of everyday life in Britain.Â
But in a headache for Health Secretary Wes Streeting, patients have taken to social media to complain about being unable to book appointments, and a number of systems reviewed by the Daily Mail this morning had mixed results.Â
The rocky rollout of digital GP booking services today could prove a headache for Health Secretary Wes Streeting
The system is designed to allow people to fill in a form to request a callback from their GP for an appointment – though some systems said they had none available todayÂ
Some GP surgeries have already said they will not follow the new regime of allowing forms to be filled in anytime between 8am and 6.30pm on weekdays (above)
‘I see the Online GP appointments booking is going well,’ said one user on X, formerly Twitter, sharing a screenshot of a website error page.
‘Two very stressed in-laws on the phone last night desperately trying to work out to register and log into Anima… to get a GP appointment,’ one X user said.
They added: ‘I’d never heard of it until last night.. so the gold standard solution for no appointments is to exclude those that need them most.’
One booking system reviewed by the Daily Mail today simply said that no appointments were available.Â
Another allowed us to request a callback and returned the message: ‘Your request will be reviewed within five working days.’
One patient who tried to book today found they could not do so, as they did not have access to their GP’s system, which is powered by Airmid.
‘Filed at the first hurdle – I don’t have a username and password. If I hit ‘forgotten my password’, it asks for my username, which I don’t have,’ they said.
‘So, that’s it. I have no way to log in. It says ‘For any further questions or assistance, contact your practice’, which seems to defeat the point.Â
‘Luckily, I can book appointments via the NHS app which means I don’t need to use this.’
Another who attempted to register for their GP surgery’s Anima platform received the message: ‘Sorry, we were unable to verify your details. Your practice has been informed and they will manually verify you themselves using your patient record.’Â
However, one south London practice vowed to call back within four hours of receiving a request for an assessment.Â
Another GP practice said it would only offer assessment forms from 8am until 1pm today – contravening the new rules
Another system reviewed by the Mail this morning said our request for an appointment would be reviewed within five working days
GP practices use a variety of different digital platforms to handle appointments, such as Airmid (above)
Many GP practices have offered online forms for years, though some switched them off at peak times – no longer allowed under the new scheme.Â
But one GP surgery, Kingskerswell and Ipplepen Medical Practice in Devon, has already protested against the new regime and informed patients that it would not be following the new rules.
Citing BMA guidelines on ‘safe working’, it said on its website: ‘After careful consideration – and with patient safety and service quality at the heart of our decision – we will continue to operate under our current system.
‘We believe this remains the safest and most effective way to meet the needs of our community.’
The statement added that the practice deals with ‘thousands’ of requests each week, and has seen a decline in budget in the last five years.
It has already closed its patient request forms for the day, and will not reopen them until tomorrow morning.Â
One patient at the surgery fumed to the Mail: ‘Their online consultation system is not available during the required core hours, leaving patients like me unable to access the service as set out by these new welcome regulations.Â
‘By the time I get to work at 9am the form is closed and I’m told to try again the next day. I’m stuck in a loop, unless I try to fill out the form whilst driving to work.’
Another surgery says it will only open its forms from 8am until 1pm today – not in step with the DHSC’s new rules.Â
Urgent health problems can still be dealt with by phone, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said today.
The plans have been opposed by the British Medical Association (BMA), which warned that serious health problems could be missed by GPs carrying out ‘online triage’ instead of in-person assessments.
Doctors had threatened to work-to-rule if the rollout was not suspended, claiming that ‘necessary safeguards’ had not been introduced to ensure patients were not at risk – and followed through on their threat on Thursday morning.
Announcing the start of the formal dispute, BMA GP committee chair Dr Katie Bramall said: ‘Despite repeated warnings of the potentially significant risks, the government has refused to listen and act over GP concerns for patient safety.
‘General practice online systems now risk being inundated with both non-urgent and urgent patient queries, leaving practices – regardless of size and the volume of queries they handle – to manage the fallout.Â
‘We can only hope that no life-threatening issues are missed or delayed but it’s a very real and present danger when we are handling over a million appointments each day nationwide.
‘Entering into dispute with the government is the first step in showing how GPs react to threats to patient safety and we are in the hands of the profession. This isn’t about pay, it’s about patient safety.Â
‘GPs are terrified they are forbidden to divert patients to telephones if they are full from the avalanche of online requests that will come, and without the promised safeguards that the government agreed to.’
An error message given to one patient today after they tried to register for a digital account with their GP practice on the Anima platform
Some of those who tried book callbacks today reported mixed results – with claiming they were unable to access their GP’s booking system at all
Ministers say they have provided enough financial backing to support surgeries in rolling out the initiative, investing £1.1billion in bolstering G.
They also point out that the BMA agreed to the change in April as part of reforms made by the government to the GP contract.
But the medical union said it only agreed to the changes on the grounds that ‘necessary safeguards’ would be implemented before today – a promise it says has not been fulfilled.
Announcing the plans today, Care Minister Stephen Kinnock said: ‘We promised to tackle the 8am scramble and make it easier for patients to access their GP practice – and through our Plan for Change, that’s exactly what we’re delivering.’
He added on a visit to a GP practice ahead of the launch: ‘People are using online systems all the time. They’re doing their banking online, so there’s absolutely no reason why the NHS and general practice shouldn’t be part of that journey.’
