GP medical centres are the front door of the NHS, providing care in the heart of our communities.
They are responsible for a substantial amount of our healthcare. In January 2026 alone, Derbyshire GP practices delivered over 618,000 appointments.
Since May, the Labour government’s 2026/27 GP contract has come into effect. I recently discussed this new contract with Dr Louise Clarke and Hayley Cott from the Derby and Derbyshire Local Medical Committee to hear more about their on-the-ground experience.
A big change for practices and patient experience is the adoption of an online consultation system. Patients are now able to contact their GPs online, and it operates alongside telephone and walk-in access.
This new system improves access to GPs, especially for working people who have struggled with the 8am scramble. We discussed the importance of keeping robust and accessible routes into healthcare as we continue our digital adoption. There are fears that residents without reliable internet access or confidence with online tools might suffer if we lose these routes into our healthcare system.
We also spoke about the experience of GPs, and improving their workload to ensure that their responsibilities are better weighted toward patient care rather than paperwork. The more face-to-face time our GPs have with patients, and the less they spend on administrative tasks, the better for improving the efficiency of our healthcare system.
Technological solutions may not always be the answer. Patient healthcare is sensitive and needs to be handled securely and with an empathy that artificial intelligence and their corporate owners can’t provide. Investing resources into staff to take on the administrative burdens of GPs will free up their time to see more patients, tackle the NHS backlog, and create good job opportunities.
I am feeding our conversation back to the Labour government to ensure that on-the-ground experiences – both patient and GP – are being properly listened to. It is vital that decision-making is informed by experience. Our healthcare staff do an amazing job, and it is so important that we equip them with the right tools for it.