Reading List

A curated Reading List to support and extend learning from GP Appointment Types for GP Receptionists and Care Navigators.

These sources relate to appointment types, booking routes, team roles, online and remote access, administrative workflows and four-nations differences. Use your practice's current appointment book rules for live booking decisions.

1. GP Appointments and Booking Routes

• NHS - Appointments and bookings at your GP surgery
  Patient information on booking, changing and cancelling GP appointments, contact routes, different health professionals, online booking and consultation modes.
  https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/gps/gp-appointments-and-bookings/

• NHS England - You and your general practice
  Explains what patients can expect from general practice, including contact routes, why staff ask for information and how practices direct requests to the right team or service.
  https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/you-and-your-general-practice-english/

• NHS England - How to improve care navigation in general practice
  Guidance on care navigation covering structured processes, team working, information gathering and governance that support safer booking pathways.
  https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/how-to-improve-care-navigation-in-general-practice-2/

• NHS England - Online appointment booking
  Guidance on online appointment booking, including appointment definitions, online availability and maintaining consistency between online and other booking routes.
  https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/online-appointment-booking/

2. Appointment Categories, Modes and Data Quality

• NHS England Digital - Mode of appointment
  Data quality guidance describing appointment mode options such as face to face, home visit, written or online, telephone and video. Useful for understanding why the mode field should be accurate.
  https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-tools-and-services/data-services/gp-appointments-data/data-quality-guidance-for-general-practices-using-emis-web/mode-of-appointment

• NHS England Digital - GP Appointments Data dashboard national category mapping guide
  Guidance on mapping GP appointment activity to national categories, including same-day clinically urgent work and common data quality issues in appointment books.
  https://digital.nhs.uk/dashboards/gp-appointments-data-dashboard/national-category-mapping-guide

• NHS - Video consultations
  Patient information on video consultations, including what to expect if video does not work. Relevant when checking whether a patient can use this consultation mode.
  https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/gps/video-consultations/

3. Team Roles, Admin Workflows and Digital Services

• NHS England South East - Meet your General Practice team
  Describes general practice team roles, including pharmacists, physiotherapists, mental health practitioners and social prescribers, and how these roles support appointment pathways.
  https://www.england.nhs.uk/south-east/our-work/meet-your-general-practice-team/

• NHS App help - Viewing test results
  Explains how patients may view GP-ordered test results in the NHS App and why some results may be withheld or require discussion first. Relevant to results workflows and patient queries.
  https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-app/help/test-results/

• NHS App help - Request or view prescriptions
  Explains requesting repeat prescriptions, missing medicines, urgent repeats and medication review prompts in the NHS App. Relevant to medicine workflows that may not require a GP appointment slot.
  https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-app/help/prescriptions/requesting-a-prescription/

4. Four-Nations Context

• NHS Inform Scotland - General practice services
  Scottish NHS information on GP practice services, reception teams, confidentiality, appointments and wider practice roles. Useful for UK-wide comparisons of appointment pathways.
  https://www.nhsinform.scot/care-support-and-rights/nhs-services/doctors/general-practice-services/

• Scottish Government - General Practice Access Short Life Working Group: access principles
  Sets out Scottish access principles including right care, right place, right time and the role of trained administrative staff in directing patients to appropriate care.
  https://www.gov.scot/publications/general-practice-access-short-life-working-group/pages/2/

• Welsh Government - GMS contract access commitment 2024 to 2025
  Welsh Government guidance on access commitments for GP practices in Wales, covering national expectations, contact routes and local implementation.
  https://www.gov.wales/gms-contract-access-commitment-2024-2025

• Department of Health Northern Ireland - Primary Care Multi-disciplinary Teams
  Explains the MDT model in Northern Ireland primary care and how wider practice teams contribute to pathways beyond GP-only appointments.
  https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/articles/primary-care-multi-disciplinary-teams-mdts