Major changes to be rolled out across all GP surgeries from next week to try and end '8am scramble'

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A number of changes to how GP surgeries are run are due to come into effect next week with the aim of improving people's access to healthcare .

From Wednesday, October 1, practices will be required to keep their online consultation tool open for the duration of core hours for non-urgent appointment requests, medication queries and admin requests.

This will free up phone lines for urgent inquiries in a bid to end the 8am rush to schedule appointments.

In a press release published earlier this year, NHS England outlined a desire for patients to have an "equitable experience across these access modes".

Also from next Wednesday, practices will be required to ensure the functionality in GP Connect is enabled to allow other NHS commissioned providers and providers of priv