GPs on track for ‘busiest summer ever’ after record appointments last month

GP practices in England delivered a record 33.6 million appointments last month, with NHS England saying that general practice is on track for its ‘busiest summer ever’.

The statistics released yesterday reveal that last month’s appointments were up 4.3% on July 2024, and up by nearly a quarter for the same period pre-pandemic (24.3% increase since 2019).

A record number of appointments were also delivered in June, putting general practice in a good position to deliver the most appointments in the summer ever.

Normally there is a decrease in NHS activity over summer months, due to fewer respiratory viruses circulating. However, this year has seen a surge in people coming forward with such conditions, NHS England said.

NHS England director of primary care Dr Amanda Doyle said: ‘General practice teams are busier than ever this summer, and thanks to their hard work we’ve seen another consecutive month of record numbers of appointments being provided to patients.

‘This combined with the latest ONS survey showing almost 3 in 4 people found it easy to contact their GP practice – up from six in ten less than a year ago – it’s clear that general practice is starting to turn a corner.’

The Government praised ‘hard-working’ GPs earlier this month, following the latest Office for National Statistics figures on experiences of local GP service. 

The figures showed improvements in regards to GP access and satisfaction, with 74.2% of patients reporting that they had found it ‘easy’ to make contact with their GP practice – an increase of 13.3% from the previous year.

And health secretary Wes Streeting wrote to all GP practices in England thanking them for their ‘tireless efforts’, pointing out improvement in patient satisfaction as well as the 2025 GP patient survey showing an increase in satisfaction over the last year.

Commenting on the number of appointments delivered over the summer, primary care minister Stephen Kinnock said: ‘GPs are integral to our Plan for Change, playing a vital role in our seismic shift in care from hospital to community and delivering a health service fit for the future.

‘Our reforms to bulldoze bureaucracy and cut red tape are boosting productivity and efficiency, delivering more appointments for patients.

‘At the same time, we are continuing to boost the GP workforce to deliver patient care closer to home, having recruited more than 2,000 since October.’