Care Minister Stephen Kinnock held a call with Integrated Care Board (ICB) leaders to identify areas that are struggling to implement online access to primary care and discuss how the Government can support them.
The changes to the GP contract, which come into effect on October 1, 2025, require GP practices to keep their online consultation tools running during core hours, allowing patients to request appointments, ask questions and describe symptoms.
However, the British Medical Association (BMA) has called on the government to put safeguards in place to prevent GP surgeries being overwhelmed by changes to access to online consultations.
Following the call with ICB leaders on November 3, 2025, Kinnock said: “On the 21ststreet century, patients rightly want and expect to be able to contact their GP online.
“We know that, for the first time, more patients are contacting their GP online than by phone.
“It’s fantastic that the majority of practices have successfully rolled out their online consultation service, now is the time to help the few remaining get it up and running everywhere.
“We have invested £1.1bn in general practice and recruited 2,500 more GPs, so the tools and resources are there to deliver a modernized service fit for the future.”
The Department of Health and Social Care has said it will support practices that struggle with the new requirements, but if GPs refuse to meet their contractual obligations, NHS ICBs can take formal action, including issuing warning notices, applying sanctions or, in serious cases, terminating contracts.
In response, Dr Katie Bramall, chair of the BMA’s GP committee, said Digital health news that the government had not implemented promised safeguards for online consultations, resulting in practices “struggling to operate with the flood of requests coming in”.
“GPs are overworked, practices are at capacity and patients will continue to wait to see their GP.
“GPs will always adopt new technologies, but only as long as it is safe to do so.
“Things will only get worse unless the Government delivers on its promise and ensures the necessary safeguards are in place to ensure this national policy change is effective, efficient and safe.e,” Bramall said.
NHS England said it has helped struggling practices prepare for the changes by providing guidance, webinars, case studies and bringing in GPs and practice staff who are experts in service redesign and improvement in general practice.
Commenting on the issue, John Mitchell, associate director of digital and deputy senior information risk owner at NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB, said: “It is essential that the NHSE/BMA GP national contract continues to evolve to reflect the digital requirements in the 10-year health plan.
“The contract ensures a shared understanding of what should be delivered in the internship and also enhances the execution of partnerships.
“If the contract does not truly reflect the required direction of travel, then delivery will be at risk.”
NHSE figures show 6.5 million online consultation requests were sent to GPs in September 2025, half more than the same period last year (4.4 million).
