HEALTH Secretary Wes Streeting has been given until the end of tomorrow to prevent a dispute with GPs over online access plans they say will put patient and staff safety at risk.

The British Medical Association (BMA) said that the safeguards promised by Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England have not been put in place, with no additional staff having been brought in to manage what it predicts to be a “barrage of online requests.”

From October 1, GP surgeries in England will be required to keep their online consultation tool open for the duration of their working hours for non-urgent appointment requests, medication queries and admin requests.

The change is part of the new GP contract for 2025/26 aimed to end the 8am scramble for appointments on the phone.

The BMA warned that it could lead to “hospital-style waiting lists in general practice” and “reduce face-to-face GP appointments.”

It said that this could risk patient safety as staff try to find the most urgent cases, with fears that reviewing online requests will take up too much time.

Last week, the union announced that its GP members had voted to go into dispute over the change and gave Mr Streeting 48 hours to take action and avoid the dispute ahead of the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.

BMA GP committee chairwoman Dr Katie Bramall said: “We agreed to these changes on the condition that ‘necessary safeguards’ would be put in place before Wednesday 1 October.

“This was agreed — in writing — with government, DHSC, and NHSE in February this year.

“Now almost eight months later, it is deeply disappointing to see promises broken. We have worked incredibly hard to rebuild the trust between our exhausted profession and the government, but now what are England’s GPs and practice teams supposed to think?

“Mr Streeting needs to listen to us and understand how we believe GPs can deliver his ambitions safely. General practice is the leader in NHS tech innovation, we do everything online from systems to prescriptions, referrals and appointments.

“We’re not resistant to change but we will be when the safety of patients and practice staff is at risk.”

Keep Our NHS Public co-chair Dr Tony O'Sullivan said: “GPs have long been ahead in the NHS in pushing for and using effective IT systems. What they need is what the NHS needs: intelligent investment from government, an end to the spectre of 20,000 unemployed doctors when primary care needs thousands more GPs, extra staff to resource safely an extended online access system, and a listening and respectful partnership between NHS managers and staff stretched to their limit."

Mr Streeting said: “It is absurd that in 2025 many patients can’t request appointments online. If you can book a hair appointment online, you should be able to book an NHS appointment too.

“Many GPs are already offering this service, and now it will be provided to patients across the country. This move - which the BMA agreed to - will support GPs to care for their patients who need non-urgent care. We have agreed clear safeguards, where patients will be directed to phone up or attend in person for urgent appointments. The BMA knows this.

“This extra service for patients comes alongside extra investment in general practice as we deliver on our Plan for Change. We’ve invested an extra £1.1 billion in general practice - the biggest increase in over a decade - and hired 2,000 extra GPs across England. Patient satisfaction with their GPs is on the up. We must work together to keep this momentum going.

“This government will always put the interests of patients first, and we will not stand for our NHS being held back in the analogue age.”