The health service releases data revealing that more than eight million people a month are seeking remote appointments, which now account for as many as a fifth of the total

The number of monthly requests for remote digital consultations with NHS GPs has almost doubled in the past 12 months.

Figures newly released by the health service show that, in February, a record tally of 8.6 million such requests were made. This represents an 85% volume increase on the comparable period last year – or 53% when adjusted per capita to account for the growth in surgeries offering online appointments, according to the NHS.

Over the whole of the past 12 months, 83 million requests for digital consultations have been submitted, while GPs have fulfilled an overall total of 388 million appointments. This means that as many as one in five consultations with family doctors are now conducted remotely using digital.

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Dr Amanda Doyle, national director for primary care and community services at NHS England, said: “GP teams are working harder than ever, delivering more than 1.5 million appointments for patients every working day over the last year – the highest number on record. In part, this is due to practices now offering patients the choice of contacting them online – with millions more people choosing this route in February compared to last year. We know we still have more to do and it can still be frustrating for patients and practices when people are unable to get through on the phone, particularly first thing in the morning – but increasing online access is helping get rid of that 8am scramble.”

A year ago, the NHS announced that the upcoming new version of the national GP contract – which took effect in October – would require practices to have “online consultation tools switched on for the duration of core hours” from 8am to 6.30pm.

The health service is also planning to increasingly digitise secondary care, with the creation of a new national NHS Online hospital facility, which will offer largely remote treatment for an initial slate of nine conditions, including glaucoma, menstrual and menopause-related issues, and inflammatory bowel disease.