What choices do I have at my GP practice?
- Healthwatch Wokingham
- Aug 7
- 3 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
When you book a GP appointment, you have certain choices and some of these are your legal rights, and others are based on NHS guidelines and policies.
One key right set out in the NHS Constitution is that you have the right to ask to see a particular doctor.
There are also guidelines from NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), which cover how patients should be treated in GP and other NHS services. These guidelines say that care should be tailored to you as an individual.
That means services should take into account things like how easy it is for you to get to appointments, your personal preferences, and any other health conditions you have.
While NICE guidelines aren’t laws, healthcare professionals are expected to follow them.
Finally, the NHS GP contract includes more choices that GPs should offer to patients, so you may have more options than you know.
What choices do you currently have?
We have listed the choices you currently have when you use GP services.
1. Method of booking a GP appointment
You can choose how you want to book your appointment with a GP, whether over the phone, online (including via the NHS App), or face-to-face. This right is set in the GP contract.
2. Named healthcare professional
NHS constitution (from NHS Act 2006): "You have the right to express a preference for using a particular doctor preference for using a particular doctor within your GP practice, and for the practice to try to comply."
This means that, however you book your appointment, you can request a specific doctor. This request may not always be granted, but the Constitution says the practice should "try to comply".
3. Male or female professional
As the NHS constitution includes the right to ask for a named professional, you can ask for a male or female professional. This type of request is likely to be granted, although there may be a delay.
Whether your GP practice can meet this request depends on a few things, such as how many doctors they have and whether they think your symptoms are urgent enough that you need to see any available doctor instead.
4. Type of professional
Under the NHS constitution, you can ask for a certain GP but not necessarily another type of professional or to see a GP instead of another professional.
5. Longer appointment
If you’re disabled, the Equality Act gives you the right to ask for a longer appointment if you need it. This is called a “reasonable adjustment.”
It’s up to the GP practice to decide how they make that adjustment. For example, they might offer the longer appointment in person or over the phone, depending on what they can manage.
6. Companion at appointments
You can take a family member, friend, or advocate with you to a GP appointment. This is supported by NHS guidelines, and you usually don’t need to ask for permission.
In many areas, you can also ask for a chaperone during your appointment. For example, if a male GP needs to do an intimate exam on a female patient, you can ask for a female staff member to be in the room too.
7. Accessibility adjustment
If you need help with communication, such as a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter, or information in Braille, large print, or easy read, you have the right to ask for it. This is part of the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) and the Equality Act. These rules make sure that disabled people get health information in a way they can understand.
There’s also a new NHS system called the Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag. It lets healthcare staff record your needs once on the system, so they’re shared across the NHS. This means if you tell your GP practice what support you need, it should be saved and used automatically for all future appointments.
What you may not be able to choose
Type of appointment
The GP contract says that practices should offer appointments taking into account "where appropriate, the preferences of the patient". This means you can request whether you would prefer a face-to-face or remote appointment however the final decision rests with the GP team based on what they consider appropriate for your needs.
