The NHS App has recently piloted updates to the GP appointment booking feature, with national rollout planned over the coming weeks. These changes are designed to make booking GP appointments simpler, clearer and more accessible for patients, while not disrupting existing ways of working for GP practices.
Developed in collaboration with GP surgeries, the updates focus on improving the patient experience when booking appointments through the NHS App. For practice teams, these changes should largely sit in the background rather than requiring major operational change. However, they do provide a timely opportunity to reflect on what appointments are available for patients to book directly — and whether this could be expanded in a way that supports both patient experience and practice workload.
You can read more about the updates to GP appointment booking in the NHS App here:
Practices are also encouraged to share feedback to help shape future improvements.
Why this matters now
Over time, direct booking in the NHS App has evolved alongside other access routes. The increasing use of booking links — particularly where eligibility criteria apply, such as cervical screening — means the number of appointments that must be triaged or restricted is becoming smaller.
At the same time, offering some appointments for direct booking remains a core contractual requirement. When used well, direct booking can also significantly reduce pressure on care navigation and reception teams, who often handle high volumes of requests for appointments that could safely be booked by patients themselves.
With improvements to the NHS App booking journey, now is a particularly good moment to review how direct booking is being used locally.
Appointment types that may be suitable for direct booking
Many practices already offer a limited number of directly bookable appointments, but there may be scope to extend this slightly — especially for routine, clearly defined appointment types.
Examples that can work well include:
- Routine GP follow-up appointments
Where a patient has been asked to book a follow-up for an existing condition or ongoing issue.
- Blood pressure check appointments
Particularly where the purpose is solely a blood pressure reading (unless a health pod is in use).
- Social prescribing appointments
Often well suited to direct booking and supportive of patient choice and self-referral.
- Medication queries with the clinical pharmacist
For questions about medicines, reviews, or side effects — clearly described so patients understand this is not a GP appointment.
Using clear, patient-friendly language for these appointment types is key. Avoid internal terminology and focus on what the patient is booking and who they will see.
Benefits for patients and practice teams
For patients, direct booking can mean:
- Easier and quicker access to appropriate appointments
- Reduced need to contact the practice by phone
- Greater clarity about appointment purpose and clinician role
For practices, it can:
- Reduce avoidable calls and navigation workload
- Free up staff time for more complex requests
- Support delivery of contractual access requirements
When combined with triage and booking links where appropriate, direct booking does not remove control — it simply streamlines access where it is safe and sensible to do so.
A timely opportunity to review
The NHS App booking updates do not require practices to change their systems, but they do offer a useful checkpoint. It may be worth considering:
- Which appointment types are genuinely routine?
- Which requests are frequently handled by care navigation but could be booked directly?
- Whether appointment names are clear and meaningful from a patient perspective?
Even small changes can have a noticeable impact on patient experience and staff workload.
As the updated NHS App GP appointment booking experience rolls out nationally, now is a great time for practices to review their approach to direct booking and consider whether expanding it — even modestly — could deliver benefits for both patients and practice teams.
If you work in a GP surgery, you can find out more about the changes and share feedback via the NHS App design history page linked above.