PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(29 May 2026)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of removing limits on the number of requests using the online consultation tool during core hours on GP practices.

Asked by:
Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat)

The Government is committed to improving access to general practice by increasing capacity and making it easier for patients to contact their surgery.

The contractual change from 1 October 2025 clarified that online consultation tools should be available throughout core hours for non-urgent appointment requests, medication queries, and administrative requests. There were no contractual limits on the number of requests patients could make through online consultation tools during core hours before this change, and there continue to be none.

Online access gives patients another route to contact their practice, alongside telephone and walk-in access, and supports practices to triage requests according to clinical need. General practices are independent businesses that hold contracts with the National Health Service to provide essential services to the public and are responsible for managing their daily operations to fulfil their contractual obligations, including how they manage the requests they receive.

Answered by:
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