Key Summary
- The new batch of GPs could deliver over 4 million additional appointments per year
- The government hopes to shift healthcare out of hospitals into the community and ending the 8 am scramble
- An extra 4.6 million elective appointments have been delivered since July 2024 - over double the government’s target
As part of the government's Plan for Change to rebuild the NHS and bring back the family doctor, 2,000 general practitioners (GPs) have been hired nationwide since last October.
A GP is responsible for around 2,300 patients, and the new batch could deliver over 4 million additional appointments per year.
Through the recruitment boost, the government hopes to shift healthcare out of hospitals into the community and end the 8 am scramble.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said, "We said we’d deliver 1,000 more GPs this year - and we’ve busted that target, bringing 2,000 more GPs on board."
He said his government's Plan for Change will deliver this progress, "creating a Neighbourhood Health Service that puts GPs at its heart and makes sure the NHS is there for everyone, whenever they need it."
Last month, the government set out its 10-Year Health Plan to revive the NHS and make it fit for the future.
The plan will train thousands more GPs and create a new Neighbourhood Health Service, so millions of patients can be treated and cared for closer to their homes.
The government had earlier invested an extra £82 million to allow networks of practices to hire GPs, with the funding continuing past this year.
It has also allocated over £102 million to more than 1,000 GP surgeries to create additional space to see more patients and deliver 8.3 million more appointments each year.
An extra 4.6 million elective appointments have been delivered since July 2024 - over double the government’s target.
The upgraded NHS App will also act as a digital front door to the health service, overhauling how people get advice, manage appointments and interact with services to make their healthcare more convenient and more personalised.
As per the Office for National Statistics, the number of patients who found it difficult to contact their practice has fallen significantly from 18.7 percent in July and August 2024 to 10.6 percent in May and June this year.
A total of 96.3 percent of patients who tried to contact their practice in the past 28 days were successful, while the number of patients who had a poor experience of their GP practice fell from 15 percent to 10.9 percent in the same period.
In May 2025, an extra 12,000 GP appointments were delivered every working day compared to May 2024.
