New GP Digital Triage System – Navigating the Future of Healthcare

GP Digital Triage is currently in a period of significant transformation, working to integrate new technological solutions into its existing structures and models of care to modernise and streamline patient access. One of the most impactful changes currently underway is the widespread rollout of the new GP Digital Triage System. Initially rolled-out during the COVID-19 pandemic to support the influx in patient appointments it has now been further expanded to alleviate pressure on primary care services.

The Rollout and its Impact on Waiting Times

The GP Digital Triage System is not a single, nationwide switch but rather a new approach being adopted by practices across the country, often under the guidance of NHS England. Initially rolled-out during the COVID-19 pandemic to support the influx in patient appointments it has now been further expanded to alleviate pressure on primary care services, with a ‘long read’ titled “Digitally Enabled Triage” [1] published by NHS England in June 2023.

This initiative supports the move away from the traditional “first-come, first-served” booking model, where patients would often have to queue on the phone at 8am, to a “remote screening and triage” booking model.

Triage Screening Process

While the exact tools and workflows can vary between different GP practices, the screening process generally proceeds as follows:

1. Patient Submission: A patient (or advocate/carer) accesses a secure online form via the GP practice’s website. The form is a structured questionnaire designed to gather information on the patient’s symptoms, concerns, or administrative requests. Many of these forms use “smart” logic, with the questions adapting based on the user’s previous answers. For example, if a patient reports a cough, the system may then ask specific questions about the duration, type, and associated symptoms.
2. Information Review and Initial Sorting: Once submitted, the information is sent to the practice. This is where the “triage” begins, where the request may be first reviewed by a non-clinical staff member, often a trained “care navigator,” who separates clinical requests from administrative ones (such as a request for a sick note or a repeat prescription).
3. Clinical Triage: All clinical requests are then passed to a GP or another qualified healthcare professional who review the information provided to assess the urgency and nature of the patient’s problem. This is where the comprehensive details provided in the online form become crucial, as they allow the clinician to make an informed decision without the need for a face-to-face consultation.
4. Action and Outcome: Based on the clinical review, one of several outcomes is determined:
   1. Same-Day Care: For urgent medical issues, the patient is given an on-the-day telephone or in-person appointment.
   1. Routine Appointment: For non-urgent issues, the patient may receive a phone call or link via text message to book a routine appointment.
   1. Remote Resolution: The clinician may provide advice, a prescription, or a sick note directly via a secure message or text, without the need for an appointment at all.
   1. Signposting: The patient may be redirected to a more appropriate service, such as a local pharmacy under the new “Pharmacy First” scheme for common ailments, or to an NHS self-help resource.

This system aims to address the considerable pressure on general practice. A report published in May 2025 by The Royal College of General Practitioners stated the average number of patients per full-time equivalent GP rose 17%  to over 2,250 since 2015 [3] despite a fall in fully qualified GPs per 1,000 patients [3], according to the British Medical Association). This has resulted in significant increases in appointment wait times, with many appointments now taking place 4 – 8-weeks after the initial call.

Early results from the rollout of digital triage systems have shown promising reductions in these wait times, with a study backed by NHS England finding one practice using an AI-powered triage system seeing patient waiting times for pre-bookable appointments dropping by 73%, from 11-days to just 3-days.

The Pros and Cons of Digital Triage

The use of digital triage offers a complex mixture of both potential benefits and challenges which could see improvements in wait times but at the cost of the health and wellbeing of patients.

Potential benefits include:

• Improved Efficiency and Access: The core benefit is the ability for practices to manage their workload more efficiently. By collecting structured information upfront, they can ensure patients are directed to the right healthcare professional without the need for an unnecessary face-to-face consultation.
• Reduced “8am Rush”: Digital systems reduce peak demand, which can mitigate the frustration of patients repeatedly calling at 8am only to find all appointments have been taken. In some studies, there have been reductions in peak-hour phone calls of up to 47%.
• Streamlined Communication: GPs can use the system to respond to minor queries via text or email, arrange blood tests or investigations ahead of a consultation, and redirect patients to self-care resources or other services like community pharmacies for greater efficiency and multi-disciplinary working.

Along with these potential benefits come concerns and challenges, including:

• Potential for Digital Exclusion: The use of digital systems will create new barriers to access for those with poor digital literacy, limited internet access, or language barriers, resulting in older people, those with disabilities, and individuals from low-income backgrounds potentially not being able to access needed support.
• Difficulty with Self-Advocacy: For many vulnerable individuals, particularly neurodivergent patients or those with complex or chronic conditions, articulating their symptoms effectively through a fixed-form questionnaire can be challenging, with the nuanced communication required for self-advocacy – explaining a symptom’s impact on daily life or describing a combination of symptoms that may not fit a standard template –often lost. This not only results in a sense of disempowerment and a fear that their needs are being misunderstood, but also could result in chronically ill patients, or patients who have difficulty navigating fixed-form questionnaires (e.g., Autistic patients or patients with Learning Disabilities) from receiving the right care.
• Potential for Miscommunication & Lack of Context: An online form is not always able to capture the nuances of a patient’s condition or the concern a carer might have, which can be more easily conveyed in a phone call or in-person conversation. For example, a patient might use a non-medical term for a symptom, which an algorithm or busy clinician might misinterpret. Without the opportunity for follow-up questions in real-time, the inability to provide further context can lead to a misunderstanding of the severity or nature of the health issue, potentially resulting in a delayed or incorrect care pathway, the knock-on effect of which would be wasted NHS resources and an increase in health concerns.
• Reduced Continuity of Care: GPs are worried that a “total triage” model will negatively impact the continuity of care, as patients may be seen by a different clinician for each new issue. This would make much more difficult to build a holistic understanding of a patient’s health, leading to potential misdiagnoses and prescription of incorrect treatments.

What Care Providers & Service-Users Can Do

To successfully navigate this new landscape, care providers and service-users should take the following proactive steps:

1. Register a Supported Access Point: Care providers should work with their service-users to ensure the GP practice has a record of the company or a specific staff member as a designated contact for health queries.
2. Understand the System: Care providers and service-users should familiarise themselves with their local GP practice’s specific digital triage system. An easy-read guide should be developed and shared to support vulnerable individuals.
3. Don’t Be Afraid to Use the Phone: The new system is not intended to be a complete replacement for other forms of communication. For complex issues or for those who cannot use the online system, the telephone remains a vital access point. Care providers and service-users must continue to advocate for themselves and use the traditional phone line when necessary.
4. Provide Comprehensive Information: When filling out the digital form, provide as much accurate detail as possible. For chronic issues, discuss your symptoms when they are at their worst, not at their best, to give a true representation of what support is needed. This will help the triaging clinician make an informed decision and allocate the request to the correct professional.

How Your Tender Team Can Help

The shift to digital-first healthcare is creating a new wave of tendering opportunities for care providers. Local authorities and NHS commissioning bodies are increasingly looking for partners who can demonstrate a strong understanding of these technological advancements and how to integrate them into their service delivery.

At Your Tender Team, we maintain a constant awareness of such changes, allowing us to better support you with your bids. We will work to help you articulate your digital healthcare knowledge, using case studies to show how you have previously adapted to changes as a result of the use of digital systems, and how you have managed communication with GPs and patient information. Your Tender Team will also assist in detailing your processes for supporting vulnerable service-users to access services, demonstrating your clear commitment to mitigating the risks of digital exclusion and supporting service-users to receive the right support. Finally, we will offer key insights into new technologies that can further improve overall service efficiency and effectiveness.

Appendices

[1] NHS England – ‘Digitally Enabled Triage’ https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/digitally-enabled-triage/(published June 2023, updated April 2025)

[2] Royal College of General Practitioners – ‘Key General Practice Statistics and Insights’ – https://www.rcgp.org.uk/representing-you/key-statistics-insights#:~:text=There%20are%202%2C258%20patients%20per,%25%20since%202015%20%5B2%5D. (September 2025)

[3] Health Tech World – ‘NHS Study Reveals 73% Reduction In Waiting Times With Autonomous AI Triage System At GP Practice’ (October 2024)