From October 1, 2025, all GP practices in England will be required by NHS England to provide online consultation tools for managing non-urgent patient requests. These tools must be available during core hours (8:00 am to 6:30 pm) and support a range of patient needs, including appointment booking, medication queries, and administrative requests. This mandate is part of a wider initiative to improve access to primary care, streamline demand, and reduce the administrative burden on healthcare teams.
To comply, practices must adopt systems that:
- Offer digital-first options for patients to submit non-urgent requests
- Enable care navigation, ensuring patients are directed to the most appropriate service, whether that’s pharmacy, self-care, or clinical triage
- Provide patient education on how to use digital tools, including the NHS App and Pharmacy First
- Integrate smoothly into existing practice workflows and protocols
- Demonstrate contractual compliance through data on demand management and accessibility
These changes present both opportunities and challenges. Digital demand is expected to increase, potentially easing pressure on phone lines and reception desks, but also requiring practices to adapt quickly. Practices may face issues like staff shortages, workflow disruption, or growing patient expectations for fast, accessible care. Developing clear triage processes and maintaining efficient digital systems will be essential.
This is where LineIn can provide meaningful support. LineIn offers a comprehensive suite of services to help practices meet NHS requirements and manage rising demand effectively. The team can handle the entire demand pathway, including answering phones, processing online consultations, managing routine administrative tasks, and providing effective care navigation in line with practice-agreed protocols. This ensures patients are directed to timely and appropriate solutions that meet their needs, while helping reduce practice workload and allowing clinical staff to focus on delivering care.
With deep experience in medical request management and care navigation, LineIn ensures that patient requests are triaged accurately and signposted appropriately, whether to in-practice services or external providers such as pharmacies, NHS 111, or community health teams.
LineIn also supports patient education, helping to increase the uptake and appropriate use of digital access tools. We work closely with practices to ensure new workflows integrate seamlessly with existing systems, meeting NHS expectations while improving the patient experience.
Our solutions are scalable and flexible, ready to adapt to future changes and variable demand across practices and PCNs. By reducing the administrative load and improving operational efficiency, LineIn helps practices deliver accessible, high-quality care in alignment with the NHS 2025–26 contract.
