NHS England figures published today show February was a record month with 8.6m online consultation submissions, up 85% on February 2025.

There were 83m online consultation requests were made over the last 12 months.

In addition, the latest ONS figures show the proportion of patients now describing contacting their GP practice as easy (73.7%) is up from two-thirds in summer 2024.

Dr Amanda Doyle, national director for primary care and community services at NHS England, said: ‘GP teams are working harder than ever, delivering more than 1.5m appointments for patients every working day over the last year – the highest number on record.  

‘In part, this is due to practices now offering patients the choice of contacting them online – with millions more people choosing this route in February compared to last year. 

‘We know we still have more to do and it can still be frustrating for patients and practices when people are unable to get through on the phone, particularly first thing in the morning – but increasing online access is helping get rid of that 8am scramble.'