Wes Streeting given 48-hour warning to avoid dispute with GPs union

Wes Streeting has been told by the British Medical Association (BMA) that the plans could put the safety of patients and staff at risk.

From October 1, GP surgeries in England will be required to keep their online consultation tool open for the duration of their working hours for non-urgent appointment requests, medication queries and admin requests.

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The change was announced by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England in February as part of the new GP contract for 2025/26 in a bid to end the 8am scramble for appointments on the phone.

At the time, officials said the move would be "subject to necessary safeguards in place to avoid urgent clinical requests being erroneously submitted online".

However, the BMA said these safeguards have not been put in place and no additional staff have been brought in to manage what it predicts to be a "barrage of online requests".

There are fears the change could lead to "hospital-style waiting lists in general practice" and "reduce face-to-face GP appointments", according to the union.

It said this could risk patient safety as staff try to find the most urgent cases, with fears that reviewing online requests will take up too much time.

Many surgeries already have a system that allows patients to request consultations online, with staff reviewing these and booking appointments accordingly.

However, according to the DHSC there is a lack of consistency, with some surgeries choosing to switch the function off in busier periods.

Last week, the BMA announced that its GP members had voted to go into dispute over the change.

Ahead of the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, the BMA has called on Wes Streeting to take action and avoid the dispute.

Dr Katie Bramall, BMA GP committee chairwoman, said: "We agreed to these changes on the condition that 'necessary safeguards' would be put in place before Wednesday 1 October.

"This was agreed - in writing - with Government, DHSC, and NHSE in February this year.

"Now almost eight months later, it is deeply disappointing to see promises broken. We have worked incredibly hard to rebuild the trust between our exhausted profession and the Government, but now what are England's GPs and practice teams supposed to think?

"The Secretary of State knows that when these changes come into effect it will likely lead to the creation of hospital-style waiting lists in general practice, reduce face-to-face GP appointments - as we'll be triaging a barrage of online requests, consequently putting patients at risk of harm as we try to find the urgent cases among the huge pile of unmet patient need that's out there.

"Mr Streeting needs to listen to us and understand how we believe GPs can deliver his ambitions safely. General practice is the leader in NHS tech innovation, we do everything online from systems to prescriptions, referrals and appointments.

"We're not resistant to change but we will be when the safety of patients and practice staff is at risk. The Government has 48 hours to change course, avoid this dispute, and keep to their promises."