More than four in five patients unsure who to turn to in NHS care, warns RCGP

Patients are struggling to navigate NHS systems in a "maze" of referrals, appointments and follow-ups, according to new public polling conducted on behalf of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP).

The survey of 2000 UK adults found 64% of respondents contacted their GP practice at least once in the last year because they were waiting for care from another NHS service. The College is warning that this creates frustration and worry for patients and avoidable workload for GPs and their teams.

In most cases, patients contacted their GP to follow up on test results or letters (28%), chase appointments (23%) or resolve medication issues originating from hospital care (23%).

More than four in five (86%) said there had been times when they were unsure who to contact in the NHS about their care, with many turning to their GP practice for help.

Patients also reported being directed to contact their GP by other services or that they needed to ask for help understanding and navigating NHS and community services.

Alongside feelings of confusion, when faced with unclear next steps, nearly half (47%) of those who had been unsure who to contact reported experiencing anxiety or worry, and over a third (34%) experienced delays in their treatment.

Separately, a survey of more than 1500 RCGP members, conducted earlier this year, found almost a third of GPs (32%) spend at least a fifth of their time supporting patients on specialist waiting lists. While this would likely include appropriate clinical care for patients waiting for specialist treatment, it may also include the tasks reflected in the public polling.

In February, the RCGP and The Patients Association jointly published 'It Shouldn't Be This Hard: Solving the NHS maze for patients and GPs', which highlighted the physical and mental toll delays in accessing care are having on patients, particularly for people who have complex health needs. It also stressed the challenges GP teams face navigating a fragmented NHS system, which they say is taking away valuable time with patients and impacting their ability to deliver high-quality care.

The College is now asking people to sign a UK Parliament petition calling on the Government to work with patients and GPs to co-design care pathways so that they provide clearer information and allow patients to track referrals. The College is also calling for sufficient investment and workforce planning to train, hire and retain enough GPs to provide timely, high-quality care.

The petition has already gained over 10,000 signatures which will trigger an official UK Government response. The last chance to sign this petition will be Wednesday 14 October.

Professor Victoria Tzortziou Brown, RCGP President said: "It is concerning to see so many patients are dealing with additional anxiety about their health, simply because they don't know where to turn in the NHS to find out what's happening with their care.

"Patients should not be expected to navigate a complex NHS on their own, and general practice should not become the default place to chase appointments, referrals, test results or information held elsewhere in the health service.

"We increasingly see patients who are living with complex long-term conditions and may have been seen by multiple health professionals, all working under different systems. The bureaucracy we have to deal with, alongside IT systems that don't speak properly to each other, can leave us searching for information we don't always have access to. This drains the already-limited time we have during appointments to listen to our patients and deliver the care that's right for them.

"We need a simpler, more joined-up NHS, where patients know who is responsible for their care, can easily find out what is happening with their referral or treatment, and can get the information they need without having to go back to their GP.

"That is why we are urging the Government to work directly with patients and GPs to co-design clearer care pathways, alongside investing in general practice to train, hire, and retain enough GPs to deliver the care patients need.

"Freeing up doctors' time and making sure patients can quickly access information about their care will mean appointments can focus on people who need them, and GPs can spend more time providing the care that only general practice can deliver."

Further information

RCGP press office: 0203 188 7659
press@rcgp.org.uk

Notes to editors

The research was conducted by Censuswide, among a sample of 2,000 Natrep UK consumers. The data was collected between 5 August 2026- 7 August 2026. Censuswide is a member of the Market Research Society (MRS) and the British Polling Council (BPC), and a signatory of the Global Data Quality Pledge. We adhere to the MRS Code of Conduct and ESOMAR principles.

The GP Voice Survey is a UK-wide survey carried out annually by the Royal College of General Practitioners. In 2026, 1524 GPs responded to the survey.

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.