The Volume Paradox

Despite increases in appointment volume, practices aren’t necessarily seeing more people – they’re seeing people more often.

Failure Demand Crisis

Up to 19% of GP consultations arise from system failures – work created by ineffective processes rather than genuine patient need. For a practice serving 10,000 people, this could account for 5,000 avoidable appointments per year.

Patient Looping Pattern

A significant proportion of patients loop round and around in practice access systems, creating a compounding effect on practice capacity.

Continuity Breakdown

In some cases, high-attending patients achieve a median 33% GP continuity – translating to a median of 11 different GPs over 10 months in large practice examples.

Clinical Variation Impact

GP follow-up rates can vary by 48% within the same practice – a 2% reduction in unwarranted followup could release thousands of appointments annually.

Same-Day System Inefficiency

Up to 60% of same-day appointment requests aren’t actually urgent, yet they’re processed through the same-day access system, creating avoidable scarcity.

First Contact Resolution Gaps

Approximately 17% of care navigator contacts can fail to meet the patient’s request at the first attempt, creating avoidable second contacts – often due to incomplete training rather than patient complexity.