GPs and patients join forces to call for end to NHS ‘maze’

The Royal College of GPs and the Patients Association have today launched a joint report calling for the NHS to be easier to navigate - as well as improving access to GP care and continuity.

The report, "It Shouldn't Be This Hard": Solving the NHS maze for patients and GPs, puts forward three shared priorities based on patient and GP feedback:   

·         Every patient should be able to navigate their care: patients and GPs must be equal partners in co-designing care pathways so they reflect real experiences and needs.  The NHS must provide clear and consistent information about how to access services and what to expect so patients feel informed and empowered in decisions about their healthcare.  

·         Every patient should be able to see their GP when they need to: governments across the UK must set out clear plans to boost workforce numbers and provide sufficient funding for GP recruitment and retention so patients can access care when they need it - and to improve continuity of care.  

·         Every patient should be able to access information about their care: patients and GPs must be equal partners in designing simpler, user-friendly systems to allow patients to see key information about their care, including being able to easily track specialist referrals. 

Central to these recommendations is the concept of patient agency, the ability of patients to understand, navigate and influence their own care. 

The report brings together the voices of patients and GPs, finding that navigating bureaucratic barriers in the NHS is highly confusing for patients, particularly those with long-term conditions and accessibility needs. 

At the same time, GPs report concerns that the time spent supporting patients to navigate the NHS could be better spent supporting their clinical needs. The RCGP’s most recent survey of members, found that around one quarter of GP workload is spent on administrative workload or bureaucracy related to clinical care that does not improve patient care or outcomes.  

Elsewhere, research by the King’s Fund found that 64% of people in England who used the NHS in the last year experienced at least one administrative or communication problem such as test results going missing or next steps being unclear. 

The new report is calling for clearer and consistent information for patients to help them understand where to go for help but, crucially, for patients to be equal partners in co-designing pathways, ensuring they are designed around patients’ needs.  This includes ensuring that patients with complex health or communication needs are equally supported to participate as partners in decisions about their care.  

The report highlights patients’ accounts of being faced with inconsistent and incompatible digital systems across primary and secondary care; failures in accessible information being provided; and difficulties keeping track of referrals and treatment plans.  

GPs report spending significant time chasing up referrals for patients and encountering challenges when doing so - largely due to poor interoperability between systems in primary and secondary care. College polling found that 54% of GPs say the ability of their IT system to exchange information with secondary care is not fit for purpose.  

The report calls for patients and GPs to be equal partners in designing simpler, user-friendly systems that would allow patients to see key information about their care, including where they are on waiting lists for specialist referrals. It recognises this will only be possible with significant investment in NHS IT infrastructure and a commitment to ensuring those who cannot access digital systems are not left behind.  

Today’s report concludes that there are not enough GPs to provide the safe and timely care patients need, echoing concerns of 57% of RCGP members who said they do not have enough time during appointments to build the relationships that are often key to delivering holistic care.  

It comes as numbers of patients per full-time, fully-qualified GP in England has increased to around 2,240, a 16% rise since 2015.   There is also a troubling paradox, where there are GPs struggling to find employment while patients cannot get appointments. 

The report calls on all four UK governments to boost the GP workforce with clear plans to train, recruit and retain thousands more GPs, addressing both the workforce numbers and the funding needed to ensure enough appropriate roles are available.  

Professor Victoria Tzortziou Brown, Chair of the Royal College of GPs said: "It’s been enlightening to work with the Patients Association on this report and reassuring to find out that many of the concerns patients have about general practice, are shared with those working in the service.  General practice is the front door to the NHS but it’s clear that too many patients feel that opening that door leads them into a maze.   

“GPs share this frustration; we see first-hand how bureaucratic and overwhelming it can be and spend considerable amounts of time trying to navigate this maze too – by chasing letters or following up on referrals, for instance. These are valuable hours that could be spent with our patients.   

“The uncertainty of not knowing where they are in the system has come out as a particular concern. We find that when people know how long they’re going to have to wait for care, it’s much easier to deal with than when they are left in the dark. That’s why we want patients to be able to access this information themselves, without having to rely on GP teams to chase it on their behalf.   

“What is also clear is the need for more GPs so we can offer patients better access to the care we deliver. This isn’t just about quick access, but better access to the continuity of care many patients need, and which GPs are expert in delivering.  Decades of underfunding and poor workforce planning have left GP numbers far behind where they need to be - and it’s our patients who suffer when they have to wait too long, particularly for an appointment with a GP they know and trust, for appointments that are too short.  

“The government has committed to ‘thousands’ more GP but we now need to see a detailed, fully funded plan to recruit, employ and retain the GP workforce patients need.”  

Rachel Power, Chief Executive of the Patients’ Association said: “Patients have told us clearly what they need: appointments when they need them, enough time to explain what's wrong, and for those with complex conditions, not having to repeat their entire history every visit. 

"They want to be able to track their referrals instead of being left in the dark. They want access to information about their own care. And they want to be equal partners in designing the services they rely on - not recipients of systems designed around organisational need.” 

Notes to editors 

RCGP and Patients Association (2025) "It Shouldn't Be This Hard": Solving the NHS maze for patients and GPs  

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 54,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.

Further information 

RCGP press office: 0203 188 7659

press@rcgp.org.uk