Wes Streeting: Ending the 8am scramble for GP appointments ‘a big challenge’
A new GP contract has been described as a ‘breakthrough moment’
Health Secretary Wes Streeting hailed a new GP contract as a “breakthrough moment” in ending the ongoing dispute between GPs and the government.
The agreement, covering the 2025/26 financial year, promises a 7.2% increase in the total value of the GP contract. This boost in funding aims to address rising costs faced by practices, including staff wages, building maintenance, and increasing patient numbers.
While celebrating the deal, Streeting acknowledged the significant challenge of eliminating the notorious 8am scramble for appointments. The new contract aims to alleviate this pressure, a key concern for patients and a source of frustration for GPs. It also marks the end of “collective action” taken by GPs, including limiting patient numbers and halting the “rationing” of referrals and investigations as requested by the NHS. This signals a move towards improved access and a more collaborative relationship between GPs and the government.
Through cutting what the Government says are “box-ticking targets”, ministers say GPs will be freed “to take the first steps to end the 8am scramble for appointments”.
Asked on GB News how he was going to fix the 8am rush for appointments, Mr Streeting said: “It’s a big challenge, as with most things in the NHS, but the fact that we’ve just agreed a deal with GPs on their contract and on the reforms that will deliver the end to the 8am scramble, actually the first time a contract has been signed with GPs since the pandemic, so this is bringing an end to that dispute GPs have had with Government, an end to collective action.
“This is a breakthrough moment that’s going to deliver real results for patients, because with this reform, and with this contract, comes the reform that will deliver online access appointment booking for patients up and down the country to bring the NHS into the 21st century, along with all the other services we have at our fingertips at the touch of a button.”
He said he promised in July to put 1,000 more GPs on to the front line by the end of March and now by the end of February there are “well over 900”.
However, Mr Streeting told LBC there will still be “challenges” in terms of the number of GPs and appointments available.
He said: “There’s still going to be challenges in terms of the number of GPs and the number of appointments that are available versus the number of people seeking demand.
“But I think people should start to see and feel that improvement over the course of this year.
“And we want to go from strength to strength year on year.”
Elsewhere, Mr Streeting told BBC Breakfast the contract means more patients will be able to see the same family doctor.
He said: “For GPs, it’s cutting through a lot of the bureaucracy and red tape that ties them up.
“We’ve almost halved the number of targets and measures that they’re accountable to deliver – that frees up more of their time to do what they enjoy most and patients appreciate most, which is seeing patients, treating patients.
“And we’re incentivising them to bring back the family doctor relationship so that, especially for people with ongoing health conditions or multiple health conditions, instead of seeing a different GP every time, having to explain yourself over and over again, people will be able to see the same GP, and that will make a real difference.
“So there’s lots of grounds for optimism.”
The British Medical Association (BMA), the trade union for doctors, and the Government agreed the new deal at a meeting on Thursday, which includes an extra ?889 million in funding for the year 2025 to 2026.
Among the reforms is a requirement for GP surgeries to allow patients to request appointments online from October this year to free up phone lines for urgent inquiries.
The BMA’s GP Committee for England chairwoman Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer said previous governments had “driven general practice to desperation with patients bearing the brunt of years of chronic underfunding”, but the changes “mark a turning point”.
She said: “The green shoots of recovery will be seen when we start to see a fall in the numbers of practices being forced to close – closures that leave patients waiting far too long to see their GP.”
She added: “However, the Government must now recognise the imperative to deliver a new contract within the current Parliament for meaningful reform and vital investment.
“Only then can we keep the front door of our NHS open, provide timely patient care, and alleviate pressure across our entire health service.”
The changes will also help to “ease pressures” on other parts of the NHS, including A&E, the Department of Health said.