ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2025
Patterns in GP appointment systems: a cluster analysis of 3480 English practices.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Geospatial Visualisation of Distance to General Practitioner Facilities with Population Density Patterns in the United Kingdom.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Appointments aren't Access: The Hidden Work of Getting Care.Journal of primary care & community healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundIn response to increasing demand for appointments, UK general practices have adopted a range of appointment systems. These systems vary widely in implementation. These changes have not yet been clearly described.
aimTo characterise patterns of primary care delivery in English general practices. DESIGN AND
settingCross-sectional study using NHS Appointments in General Practice data from 3480 English GP practices, totalling 56 million appointments between August and October 2023.
methodTwelve measures associated with consultation modality, waiting time, clinician type, and triage use were derived. Practices with similar characteristics for those 12 variables were clustered together using an ensemble machine learning approach. Clustering was validated using December 2023 data. The characteristics of each practice grouping were described using 2021 Census and NHS workforce data.
resultsTwo main models of care emerged. 'Routine care' practices (
conclusionThis study identified two dominant models of primary care delivery in England, reflecting differing approaches to managing patient access. These differences could have an impact on continuity of care and equity of access to primary care.
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