GP Access Desktop Study

Healthwatch Nottingham and Nottinghamshire undertook a review of GP access across the Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Integrated Care System (ICS) footprint. This report builds on HWNN’s previous work on primary care access and assesses how local practices are progressing in implementing the aims of the NHS England Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care, 2023, and preparing for the 2025/26 GP contract.  They mystery shopped 59 GP practices by assessing information on their websites and contacted them by phone.

The study highlights a number of positive developments across local practices, including widespread availability of telephone and online booking options, clear explanation of general appointment processes and the inclusion of key service pages and translation tools on many practice websites. Most practices also offer advance booking, provide a choice of appointment types and share information on accessibility features such as home visits. 

However, despite strong national focus on improving GP access, local implementation remains inconsistent. While some practices have adopted digital telephony and integrated the NHS App, there are gaps in how clearly these options are communicated to patients, how consistently triage and appointment systems are explained, and how accessible they are for different patient groups.