F2F GP appointments fall to 60.2% as digital first contract takes hold, new data shows

New figures from NHS England show face to face consultations made up 60.2% of all GP appointments in June 2026, the most recent month for which data is available. It's the clearest sign yet of how quickly the shift towards phone, video and online contact is reshaping day to day general practice, following a year of contractual change.

 

Practices recorded 34.9 million appointments in June, of which 44.5% were carried out by a GP and 18.3% by a nurse. Same day access held up despite the volume: 45.0% of all appointments took place the same day they were booked, and of the 6.7 million appointments classed as clinically urgent, 76.9% were dealt with on the day of booking.

The change traces back to 1 October 2025, when NHS England made it a contractual requirement for every GP practice in England to keep online consultation tools open throughout core hours, putting digital requests on the same footing as telephone and walk-in access. The 2026-27 GP contract has since reinforced that direction, adding same day access expectations for clinically urgent needs and requiring practices to submit more consistent data on how patients are contacting them.

 

The scale of that digital demand is already visible elsewhere in NHS England's data. Practices using online consultation systems received 8.5 million patient submissions in April 2026 alone, of which 5.5 million were clinical in nature, working out at 135 submissions per 1,000 registered patients that month.

 

Not everyone reads the trend the same way. A BMA survey of more than 1,300 GP practices in England found that 42% had reduced face to face appointment capacity since the online consultation requirement came in, and 55% reported the change had negatively affected patient care. NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care have pointed to rising submission volumes as a sign that digital access is working as intended, while the BMA argues the same figures point to an administrative burden that's overstretching GP teams.

The shift is changing what day to day work in general practice looks like, and by extension, the kind of experience practices are looking for when they hire. Clinicians are increasingly expected to move fluidly between telephone, video and in person consultations within a single day, alongside using online consultation platforms and e-prescribing as standard tools rather than optional extras. The wider primary care team, including clinical pharmacists, physician associates, advanced nurse practitioners and care coordinators, is playing a larger role in managing the online triage and virtual clinic work that digital first models depend on.

 

NHS England has also flagged that the online consultation requirement is intended to support, rather than replace, telephone and walk in access, and that further data collection is aimed at helping ICBs identify where extra support is needed rather than to performance manage individual practices.

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What percentage of GP appointments are now face to face? 60.2% of GP appointments in England were carried out face to face in June 2026, according to NHS England's most recent published data, the lowest recorded proportion.

 

Why are online GP appointments increasing? Since 1 October 2025, GP practices in England have been contractually required to keep online consultation tools open throughout core hours, putting digital requests on equal footing with telephone and walk-in access. The 2026-27 GP contract has extended this requirement further.

 

Are same day GP appointments still available under the new system? Yes. NHS England's June 2026 data shows 45.0% of all appointments were booked and delivered on the same day, and 76.9% of clinically urgent appointments were dealt with on the day they were booked.

What does the BMA say about the shift to digital first appointments? A BMA survey of over 1,300 practices found 42% had reduced face to face appointment capacity since the online consultation requirement came in, and 55% reported a negative effect on patient care.

 

How is this changing what practices look for when hiring? Practices increasingly value clinicians and wider primary care staff who are comfortable working across telephone, video and in person settings, and who have experience with online consultation platforms, digital triage and e-prescribing.