Access to general practice is one of the biggest political talking points. The Government’s 10-year plan said it was going to ‘restore GP access and ensure a far better experience of arranging care’, and has no less than five mentions of the ‘8am scramble’. Meanwhile, a Health Foundation and Ipsos MORI poll published last month found it is the public’s number one NHS priority.

Yet ‘access’ is a nebulous term. Is it to do with the availability of appointments? And what kind of appointments – face to face, with a GP, on the day? And is it around waiting times? Or, is it about the ease of patients getting through to their practice? 

Read more – Management in Practice (9/10/25)