A new change coming into force this month should make it easier for people to get medical advice when they need to see a doctor.
The move comes amid people facing record delays when trying to book a GP appointment. NHS data also shows a huge drop in people who say they have had a good experience trying to see their GP.
Medical centres can take around 500 calls a day when lines open at 8am as the day's appointments are quickly booked up in minutes, Birmingham Live reports.
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Millions of patients have to wait at least two weeks to see a doctor, with a shortage of GPs and a growing number of patients blamed for the problems. But this is about to change.
NHS England's new GP contract for 2023/34, which comes into effect on May 15, makes it clear that GP surgeries have to offer patients an "assessment of need" upon first contact, by looking at their case there and then. They will "no longer be able to request that patients contact the practice at a later time."
Alternatively, practices can signpost people to an "appropriate medical service" if they feel it's a better way of handling the issue. Medical experts say it's not yet clear what this means. But it could include more people being referred to a nurse, pharmacist or specialist practitioner instead.
NHS director of primary care Dr Ursula Montgomery said: "GP teams have worked hard to deliver record numbers of appointments with half a million more delivered each week last year compared to pre-pandemic, and this new contract aims to build on this further with more access for patients.
"As well as providing same day care to more than two fifths of patients, GP teams will also step-up preventive action against heart attacks and strokes over the next year, with health professionals encouraged to prescribe statins alongside other preventative measures such as exercise to a much wider number of patients with heart disease, arterial disease and those who suffered a stroke or who have high levels of cholesterol.
"This contract supports GP teams to provide what matters to patients, and later this Spring the NHS will publish the GP Recovery Plan on how access to care will be expanded even further."
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