Written questions

General Practitioners: Standards

Commons · Question 116045 · Tabled 25 Feb 2026 · Department of Health and Social Care · Official record

Answered 5 Mar 2026

Question

Asked by Andrew Snowden

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help reduce the need for patients to contact GP practices at 8am in order to secure a same-day appointment.

Answer

Answered by Stephen Kinnock, 5 Mar 2026

We have pledged to end the 8:00am scramble by introducing a modern booking system. As part of this, we have introduced a new requirement for general practices to make online appointment requests available throughout the duration of core opening hours, whi...