The aim of the publication is to inform users about activity and usage of GP appointments historically and how primary care is impacted by seasonal pressures, such as winter.
NHS England publishes this information to support winter preparedness and provide information about some activity within primary care. The publication covers historic appointments, marked as attended or did not attend, from national to practice level coverage. The aim is to inform users, who range from a healthcare professional to an inquiring citizen, about appointments within primary care.
The publication includes data from participating practices and Primary Care Networks (PCNs) using EMIS, TPP, Eva Health formerly known as Microtest (up until February 2021), Informatica, Cegedim (previously Vision) and Babylon (GP at Hand) GP systems.
NHS England produce this information monthly, containing information about the most recent month and previous months.
The publication includes important information, however it does not show the totality of GP activity/workload. The data presented only contains information which was captured on the GP practice and PCN appointment systems. This limits the activity reported on and does not represent all work happening within a primary care setting or assess the complexity of activity.
No patient identifiable information has been collected or is included in this release.
Between December 2020 and present the data contained in this publication will no longer contain covid-19 vaccination activity collected from GP System Suppliers as part of the General Practice Appointments Data. These appointments have been removed using the methodology outlined in the supporting information. In order to gain a more complete picture of general practice activity we will publish covid-19 vaccination activity carried out by PCN’s or GP Practice’s from the NIMS (National Immunisation Management Service) vaccination dataset.
This publication now includes statistics on the duration of appointments, SDS role and the recorded national category, service setting and context type of the appointment. Both HCP Type and SDS role are currently presented for comparison purposes, but moving forward the intention is to only publish SDS Role Groups and remove HCP Type. Further information can be found in the supporting guidance below.
Appointments recorded in Primary Care Network (PCN) appointment systems are included within this publication at national level from June 2023.
