From today (1 October), patients will be able to request appointments, ask questions, and describe symptoms online throughout the day rather than calling their surgery or visiting in person. This will help free up practice phone lines for those who need them most, and make it more convenient to access appointments.

The move followed warnings from the BMA that GPs' systems currently cannot distinguish between non-urgent and urgent patient queries and, with practices already understaffed and overworked, GPs fear this could lead to potentially serious and life-threatening problems being delayed or missed entirely. Doctors will need to be reallocated away from booked appointments to manage the potential online triage tsunami leading to fewer GP appointments with patients, the union said.

BMA GP committee chair Dr Katie Bramall said: ‘At the start of this year, the government promised GPs across the country that they would implement the necessary safeguards that would enable practices to operate safely and prevent patient harm with online consultations and other IT changes. Unfortunately, this has not happened. Despite repeated warnings of the potentially significant risks, the government has refused to listen and act over GP concerns for patient safety.'

She added: ‘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. 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.

‘For the secretary of state to say it is ‘absurd' that requesting a GP appointment is harder than 'booking a haircut' displays a deep misunderstanding of how general practice works and how understaffed and under-resourced it continues to be 14 months into their term of power. Millions of online consultations happen each month and practices are only asking to switch these off when they are completely full. What else does the government expect us to do?

‘We want to support the government's ambition, but this can't be at the expense of patient safety and GP practice staff wellbeing. We need more capacity, and unemployed GPs need jobs - promising the impossible whilst ignoring the solutions is profoundly disappointing, as are the broken promises. We implore the government to not take this any further, work with us on bringing in patient safeguards that will make a difference and let us continue to serve our communities.'