Local general practices offer more appointments than the same period last year

The number of appointments available at general practices in Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes has shown a further increase.

Figures published by NHS England reveal that over 1,650,000 appointments were made at practices in the area between June and August 2025, an increase of around 220,000 (15.3%) on the same period a year earlier.

Almost half of appointments – 44.5% – were for the same day as they were booked, and 64.0% were face-to-face, with the remainder offered as telephone or online consultations.  The figures also reveal a change in the make-up of the primary care workforce: 41.5% of appointments were with a GP, with practice nurses, clinical pharmacists and other healthcare professionals making up the remainder.

Maria Wogan, director of neighbourhood health and partnerships at Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board, said:

“We’ve seen consistent increases over the last two years in the numbers of appointments being offered by general practices in Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes.

“NHS staff are working incredibly hard to meet the needs of patients, and these figures show that local people are seeing a wider range of professionals in primary care.  Increasingly the workload can be spread among different clinical roles: for example, a pharmacist will carry out medication reviews, and a practice nurse will have been trained to help patients manage their long-term conditions such as asthma or diabetes.  This allows your practice to make the best use of all their staff’s expertise and time, and it frees up GPs to deal with patients who need more complex care.

“Unfortunately, more than 59,000 patients (3.6%) did not turn up to their general practice appointment over the three months from June to August.  Every time someone misses an appointment, that’s a slot which could have been offered to another patient, so if you no longer need your appointment, please make sure you cancel it in good time.”