General practices offered almost 11million appointments to patients across Kent and Medway in 2023.
Around 500,000 more appointments were offered in 2023, compared to the previous year and an extra 1.4million appointments were offered last year compared to 2021.
It comes after the latest NHS England figures for December show more than 780,000 appointments were offered by GP teams across Kent and Medway – taking the total number of appointments for the year to 10.8million.
Last year, 67 per cent of appointments were face-to-face and 28 per cent were over the telephone.
Expanding the general practice workforce
To help meet this increasing demand, there are new staff working in practices to support GPs and help patients get the right care as quickly as possible.
Around half of all appointments in Kent and Medway are now with professional members of the wider general practice team, including paramedics, pharmacists, social prescribers and physiotherapists.
There are now 400 more people working in general practice than there were at the beginning of 2023.
Learn more about the different roles in general practice.
Using technology to manage demand
99 per cent of practices now have cloud-based telephony services to help manage queues.
The system is designed to provide patients with a more streamlined service in the way they are able access to general practice.
Millions of people are also now using the NHS App to manage their health simply, from ordering repeat prescriptions to booking appointments and checking their health records.
The app is available to download on smartphones or tablets via the Google play or Apple App store.
For more information on your local services, visit your GP practice website or www.kentandmedway.icb.nhs.uk