We want to thank everyone who has taken the time to share feedback with us about how appointments are currently booked. Your comments have helped us reflect on how we can improve access as much as we can.
After carefully reviewing this feedback from patients, staff and others, we are making some changes to our appointment booking system and moving back to an on the day only approach.
Important Note: As we prepare for this change, the online booking request form will be temporarily unavailable until the week commencing 30th June. We apologise for this short-term inconvenience and thank you for your understanding as we complete the system update.
What’s Changing and Why?
From Monday 30th June, we’ll be switching to a same-day appointment request system. This means that from that date, all GP appointments will be booked on the day you contact us — whether urgent or routine.
We’re making this change in response to concerns about long phone wait times and the difficulty of booking appointments in advance. Many of you told us you prefer to use an online form, and we’re pleased to say that will be reintroduced for all GP appointment requests.
Our goal is to create a simpler, more equitable, and efficient process that ensures we use our available appointments in the best way possible, especially as demand for appointments continues to grow.
What to Expect During the Transition
We know change takes time, and we want to be honest with you. As we transition to this new system, we still have a number of pre-booked appointments already in place. These will absolutely be honoured.
However, this does mean that our same-day availability may be reduced for a short period while we work through those already-booked appointments. We appreciate your patience and understanding during this time.
We are looking to secure more Locum GPs to help provide more capacity during this move to same day appointments only.
The good news is that once the transition is complete, we’ll be able to offer more same-day appointments and make better use of available capacity — with fewer missed appointments and a fairer, more flexible system for all.
How Do I Book an Appointment from 30th June?
There are three simple ways to request a GP appointment:
- Online Form – the easiest and quickest way: via our website.
- Phone – if you’re unable to access the internet, call us and our reception team will complete the form on your behalf.
- In Person – visit the reception desk and we’ll help you submit your request.
This means that every request, no matter how it’s submitted, is assessed fairly and consistently.
Key Points
- GP appointments can no longer be booked in advance.
- Appointments with nurses, phlebotomists, and HCAs are not changing.
- The online request form will be available again, making access more convenient.
- Reduce the wait times on the phones for those who cannot use the online forms
- We will do our best to accommodate requests for specific GPs, but this may not always be possible due to availability.
What if I need to see someone between now and the 30th June?
That’s fine. We are still here and open! It is just that our capacity to see patients is reduced as we work through those appointments that are already prebooked. We are now no longer taking pre-booking and will only take On the Day request.
What If My Request Isn’t Urgent?
Every request will still be reviewed on the day it is submitted. If your issue isn’t urgent, you’ll still receive a response with the most appropriate option — which might include seeing a pharmacist or other healthcare professional. Not all conditions need to be seen by a Dr and often it is quicker to be seen by other professionals.
How This Will Make a Difference?
Between January and May 2025, 252 GP appointments were missed (DNAs) — over 57% of these were pre-booked appointments. This represents over £19,000 in lost NHS resources. By moving to on-the-day requests, we aim to reduce missed appointments and make better use of available time.
We’re also working hard behind the scenes to recruit additional clinicians and expand capacity — but we want to be transparent: demand still exceeds what we can offer at times. That’s why using our existing appointments more effectively is so important.
Thank You
We know this is a big change, but we’re confident it will help make accessing care simpler, fairer, and more efficient for everyone.
Thank you for your support and patience as we make this improvement.