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An NHS doctor has provided insight into a significant change coming to GP practices starting October 1, 2025. Dr. Tim Mercer, who regularly shares medical advice on TikTok, explained in a video that he felt the need to clarify online after discovering that some of his patients mistakenly believed the impending changes were his own decision.
“General practice triage is the direction of NHS England,” he wrote in a caption. “I think my patients thought that moving to total triage was my decision, but this is far from the truth. The only decision I made was to begin on September 1 so that if anything went horribly wrong, we could address and correct the issue before October 1!”
Dr. Mercer described in his video that the most significant change will affect how you arrange an appointment with your surgery. “From October 1, all surgeries will need to adhere to the new charter, ‘You and your general practice’ and will have to uphold the principles outlined within it,” he stated.
This charter requires GPs to be available from 8:00 am to 6:30 pm, Monday to Friday, as per Dr. Mercer, and during these hours, they can be contacted in-person, by phone, digitally, or through the NHS app.
The doctor continued: “The current system allows you to contact the surgery, and they schedule an appointment for you at a future time that somewhat matches your request… some sort of triage is done by the receptionist, but patients clearly aren’t satisfied with this.”
However, with the new charter from NHS England, this is expected to improve. As the GP highlighted: “Whether you make your request by phone, online, or by visiting the practice, you must provide us with some details so we can assess what is best for you based on your clinical need.”
Dr Mercer shared an official guidance screenshot, stating: “We will consider your request for an appointment or for medical advice and tell you within one working day what will happen next.”
And he further clarified that under the existing system, “you may call and be told by the receptionist you can have an appointment two weeks on Thursday”, but the change will mean you call the GP to request an appointment and wait for it to be allocated within one working day after the GP has “triaged everything from the pile”.
Expressing his frustration, Dr Mercer said: “It’s not the receptionist’s fault. It’s not my fault. This is not what any of us decided. This is what NHS England has told us we have to do.” As a result, he advised from October 1, your requests could lead to an appointment “that day, the subsequent day, or it might just be a text message or advice to go to the pharmacy or another NHS service”.
NHS England’s website also states: “Your practice will decide what is best for you based on your clinical need. Your practice cannot tell you to just call back the next day.”
Dr Mercer conceded: “Although for the majority of circumstances, we’re going to try to give you what you want because often what the patient wants in the end is what they need – or at least we can negotiate it.”
He concluded by outlining the major transformation that patients “will be happy about”, specifically that “practices can’t just say, ‘Just call back tomorrow at 8am’.”
The NHS provides additional information: “You might be offered a face-to-face appointment or a phone call with a GP or other member of the practice staff, like a nurse or pharmacist. If you have a carer, they can speak for you with your consent.
“You can ask to see a preferred healthcare professional, and the practice will try to meet your request, although you might have to wait longer for that person to be available. It can be helpful to see the same healthcare professional, particularly if you have a long-term health condition.”
Meanwhile, in order to assist in the process and transition, the NHS has several suggestions, which it explains on its website:
- Be prepared: Before an appointment, think about writing down your symptoms, what you are worried about and what you want to talk about.
- Be on time: Being late for an appointment or being unavailable for a timed call-back can affect other patients.
- Cancel if needed: If you can’t go to your appointment, tell the practice as soon as you can, so that they can offer it to someone else.
- Use the NHS App or website: If you’re confident using smart phones or computers, you can book or cancel appointments, order repeat prescriptions, and see your test results online.
- Turn on notifications: If you use the NHS App, turn on notifications so the practice can contact you more easily. Please keep an eye out for messages.
- Order repeat medicines on time: Make sure you ask for repeat prescriptions on time, so you don’t run out, and only order what you need.
- Join the Patient Participation Group: You practice will have a group of patients who can offer feedback on the services it delivers. Your practice website should explain how you can join.
Full guidance, provided by the NHS can be found here.
