Around 425,000 patients used the online Register with a GP surgery service in its first year, according to NHS England.
The service was launched last August in a bid to enable more convenient access to GP registrations for patients.
NHS figures indicate that nearly half (48%) of all the people who used the tool did so outside of regular GP opening hours, meaning patients have been taking full advantage of their newfound accessibility.
Around seven in 10 (68%) people using the service were switching their GP, while other submissions included people registering for the first time, newborns and ex-military patients.
The service has also been beneficial to health professionals as it has saved GP surgery staff up to 15 minutes of time per registration in reduced paperwork and admin.
Over 1,400 GP surgeries, which is the equivalent to one in five nationally, have already signed up to the online registration service – a figure the government set out to be north of 2,000 by the end of the year in the primary care recovery plan.
“It is free for GP surgeries to use and saves them time by making the process much simpler,” explained NHS England’s executive director for platforms, Stephen Koch.
Dr Amanda Doyle, national primary care director at NHS England, said on the service: “It helps free up the time of busy practice staff so they can spend more time focusing on patients, and less time filling in paperwork.”
The GPs that are offering patients the chance to sign up online have also received an updated paper form to mirror the experience digital patients get.
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