In April, GP teams delivered more than 30 million appointments. This number is almost a quarter higher than the same period before the pandemic.

There is now an average of more than 1.4 million GP practice appointments every working day.

At the same time, 98 per cent of GP practices have now upgraded their phone technology.

Dr Amanda Doyle, national director for primary care, NHS England said: “Thanks to GPs and their hardworking teams, millions more appointments are being delivered every month compared to before the pandemic with plans in place to improve access even further.

“Every GP practice is upgrading their telephone systems to make it easier for patients to contact their surgery, while patients can use the NHS app to order repeat prescriptions and view their test results without needing to contact their family doctor.

“We know there is more to do to make it easier for patients to access GP services and that’s why, building on the successes so far of the primary care access recovery plan, we continue to expand pharmacy services and offer patients more choice in how they access care.”