The government’s decision to require all GP practices in England to keep their online booking systems open throughout the day has sparked a mixed reaction from Independent readers.
Supporters praised the convenience of digital systems, with some noting that many queries – such as medication advice or follow-ups – can be resolved without face-to-face appointments.
They argued that online forms give doctors more information in advance, allowing them to prioritise urgent cases and manage time better.
Others welcomed the reduced need to sit in crowded surgeries, especially those with life-limiting conditions who said phone or email consultations often meet their needs.
Critics, however, raised concerns about digital exclusion, particularly for poorer pensioners without internet access or smartphones. Many also feared that online requests could overwhelm GPs, create longer queues at surgeries, or lead to misdiagnosis when doctors cannot see patients in person.
A minority suggested technology and even AI might ease the burden in the future, but most felt safeguards and resources remain lacking.
Here’s what you had to say:
There is no perfect service
My surgery uses an “ask my GP” service. I log on, choose what I want – new medical problem, medication query, existing issue etc.
I then give a description of the problem (up to 2000 words) and then I select if I want a phone appointment, email, telephone etc. You can even say it’s urgent and you want a response in 24 hours.
A majority of the time, an email is all I need. But if I want face to face I can do. And that’s what I did yesterday. I logged on, said I didn’t feel I needed X painkiller any more, and how should I taper off them. At about 6pm, I had a message from the GP giving me the timetable to come off this drug.
This type of query doesn’t need a face-to-face appointment.
All incoming messages are checked by a GP. If you ask for an urgent appointment then you get one. As well as allowing non-urgent issues to be dealt with online, this service also tells the GP what is wrong before you get to their office, and more importantly, the GP knows roughly how long you will need. When dealing with concussion, I was in the doctor’s surgery for over half an hour. Can you imagine the uproar if I’d just gone for an appointment the way it is in England now and kept a load of people waiting?
There is no perfect service. But I feel that this one suits my needs. There is another practice in the building which does everything by phone and if that’s what people want, then they can have it.
Lils
The most productive thing Streeting has done
I am neither poor nor poorly educated or unintelligent. I have served in the armed forces, and in the NHS, and the royalties from books I have written still generate a lot more income than my pension. I have a smartphone, a nice laptop, and fibre broadband.
But I am 70. I cannot, now, type (or think) as quickly as my daughters or sons-in-law.
So I cannot fill in and submit an online form in the time between my GP’s online system opening at 08:00 and their computer slamming the shutters down at 08:01.
What’s wrong is that the GP surgeries in all the surrounding villages have closed – so our village health centre is now serving several times as many people as it was ever intended to.
If GPs are worried that allowing people to contact them at any time during the day will create a “barrage” of online bookings, isn’t that another way of saying that the current system of shutting out anyone who can’t complete and submit an online form in the time between their online system opening at 08:00 and the shutters slamming shut at 08:01 is simply a form of rationing – one that is prejudiced in favour of those who are alert, tech-savvy and able to type quickly, rather than those who may be more seriously ill or suffering from long-term conditions such as arthritis or Parkinson’s?
This may well be the most constructive thing Streeting has done. I know that is setting the bar incredibly low, but unlike some of his other diktats, at least it’s not actually intended to actively harm patient care.
NewDawn3
I much prefer online
I much prefer going online or talking on the phone rather than visiting the surgery where sick people go, and risk catching something. I can explain the problem just as easily on the phone as I can sitting in the doctor’s room. She can ask me questions and I can answer them. Unless it’s for a lump or something she has to ‘feel’, I don’t see why people would insist on actually going to the surgery.
I have a life-limiting condition and many health issues and all can be explained over the phone or online.
fenwoman
Some sort of change is required
Some sort of change is required. My wife has had peripheral arterial disease diagnosed by top nurses four times, the first three months ago. The tests were carried out using different methods and all came to the same conclusion – that my wife has peripheral artery disease (PAD).
But she still has not been referred to the hospital by her GP.
The tests were carried out by very skilled nurses, so why can they not refer to the hospitals?
MORDEY
Could AI handle requests in future?
This initiative, if mismanaged, could potentially cause a backlog of requests, but if GPs take turns, and work from home to address the requests, it could even be a popular option for a working day.
Not only that, but if AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) is achieved within the next decade, most of these requests could be dealt with by a computer, saving a huge amount of time and money.
ppundit
Phone calls don’t work for everyone
I have recently had two calls from a doctor in place of an appointment. And how can you possibly explain how you feel over the phone? It’s impossible and only leads to the doctor misdiagnosing your problem because he did not see it for himself.
davcon
Digital poverty excludes the vulnerable
I work in social housing and 30% are over 65. Digital poverty is a big issue and housing organisations have to make sure all important communications are also delivered by letter. We even provide braille letters. When old people are choosing between eat and heat, the internet is not an option, never mind an iPad or smartphone.
So many people have no idea how the poorer old in our society are often on the edge of homelessness and malnutrition.
Slightly Tipsy Max
Not everyone has a smartphone
Plenty of old people do not have a smartphone at all, or are not comfortable or super confident in using one. My GP has just begun this system. When my wife went for an appointment yesterday there was a queue out of the front door because of the number of patients who couldn’t use the new system.
Another disaster from the worst Government in living memory.
RH92
Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.
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