GPC England · September 2025
Document code: 20250676 · Issued: 26/09/2025
Background
On 19 August 2025, NHS England published You and Your General Practice
(YYGP) to “help patients understand what to expect from their GP surgery
and how to get the best from their GP team”. Practices are required to link
to the YYGP document on their websites by 1 October 2025.
- This Practice Charter sets out what practices want to provide for our
patients, and the challenges we face in doing so.
- The link to the YYGP document is included at the end, and posting the
link within this Charter fulfils our contractual requirements.
Dear Patient,
GPs and their practice teams provide the vast majority of NHS care outside
of hospitals, supporting you and your family throughout your lives. In a
perfect world, we want to be able to offer every patient:
- Safety – prompt access to a GP or practice nurse you trust, with wellstaffed surgeries and enough resource so that no patient feels left
behind. - Stability – a family doctor who knows you, your medical history, and your community – without the stress and difficulty of finding it difficult to get an appointment.
- Hope for the future – care that focuses on keeping you well, not just treating illness, with more time for meaningful consultations, joinedup support closer to your home, and modern premises with safe and effective technology.
The government talks of “bringing back the family doctor” but what
politicians promise is often not planned properly or funded fairly to be able
to be delivered in reality.
We aim to respond to all appointment and advice requests promptly,
prioritising those most in need. Sometimes we may need to offer you an
appointment on another day or direct you to another suitable service.
For safety reasons, urgent medical requests cannot be accepted via our
online system. For something urgent, please call us or walk into reception.
The need to prioritise urgent cases can result in longer waiting times for
routine/non-urgent appointments.
The new requirement to allow patients unlimited online access for nonurgent medical requests, throughout core hours, makes it more likely that
we will have no choice but to create hospital-style waiting lists to meet
patient need.
GPs are on your side.
The Challenges Your Practice Faces
- Rising demand, fewer GPs – GPs care for 17% more patients than
in 2015, but with fewer GPs. Funding has not kept pace, so many patients
find it hard to see their GP quickly. - Practice closures – Around 2,000 practices have been lost since 2010
(one in four surgeries). - Funding pressures – Practices receive just 31p per patient per day
- Workforce challenges – More GPs are leaving the NHS than joining.
We even have unemployed GPs, but practices lack funds to hire them. - Unsafe workloads – Many GPs see far more than the accepted safe limit of patients per day, often working over 60 hours a week.
- Ageing buildings – One in five GP surgeries is now over 75 years old – older than the NHS itself (founded in 1948).
- Access versus continuity – Policy emphasises speed over choice, reducing continuity of care.
Demand Management
We always aim to respond to all appointment and advice requests promptly,
prioritising those most in need. Sometimes we may need to offer you an
appointment on another day or direct you to another suitable service.
For safety reasons, urgent medical requests cannot always be accepted via
our online system. For something urgent, please pick up the telephone or
walk into our surgery.
The need to prioritise urgent cases can result in longer waiting times for
routine/non-urgent appointments.
The new requirement to allow patients unlimited online access for nonurgent requests, throughout core hours, makes it more likely that we will
have no choice but to create hospital-style waiting lists to meet demand.
We may unfortunately sometimes face challenges beyond our control:
- Difficulties with accessing services at the local hospitals and long
waiting lists - Workforce challenges – not enough GPs to look after you
- The need to provide our teams with compulsory NHS training and
education - Unforeseen events
- NHS IT challenges with old and slow equipment
- Lack of investment in practice buildings and development
- Public health emergencies
Our hours
- Our core contract hours are Monday – Friday, 8am – 6:30pm.
- Our consulting times are between these hours.
- At times (e.g. lunch or end of the day) a clinician may not be present
(e.g. on home visits). - In any emergency, please dial 999 or attend the nearest Accident &
Emergency department.
We believe patients deserve more
- At present, GPs and their teams are under huge pressure – caring for more people with fewer resources.
- Without proper investment, the safety, stability and continuity of care
that patients value most are at risk. - We will always do what we can to deliver the best service possible. With
the right resources, we could expand our services, employ more staff,
and deliver the safe, timely, personalised care you deserve. - Please remember our current GP contract funds patient care on average
at 31p per day per patient, which is not enough to meet rising demand.
So please bear with us – and thank you for your support as we try our best for you and your family.