Practices delivered record numbers of appointments last month, boosting a return to normal working with millions of telephone consultations, according to new data.

Nearly 26 million appointments included some 15.8 million delivered face to face, according to the NHS Digital data. It means the number of face to face appointments have nearly reached pre-pandemic levels – when in January 2020 there were 21.7 million face to face appointments. The data highlights the growing role of non-medical practitioners. Some 14.7 million appointments were with GPs and 12.7 million with other practice staff. 11.3 million appointments were by telephone, the largest number ever.

GP leaders said data supported anecdotal reports from doctors that they are “busier than ever before.”

British Medical Association GP committee chair Dr Richard Vautrey said: “For GPs working 11 or 12-hour days, often leading heroic efforts to protect as many people as possible in their communities against a disease that has had such a devastating impact on all of us, it is heart-breaking and completely demoralising to hear accusations that general practice is not open and that patients are not being seen. This narrative, categorically proven wrong by today’s data, is extremely damaging at a time when morale is already reaching rock bottom and many GPs, practice managers and others in the practice workforce are reaching breaking point. It may feel slightly different, with changes put in place for the protection of staff and patients alike, but general practice is open, and staff need support, patience and understanding as they work harder than ever before.”

Royal College of GPs chair Professor Martin Marshall said: “Today’s data doesn’t account for most of the incredible work that has gone into delivering the COVID vaccination programme, with hundreds of thousands of patients being vaccinated in GP-led sites every day. It doesn’t account for the significant increase in clinical admin work that our own data shows. And it doesn’t account for complexity of the work, which has increased during the pandemic, with patients presenting an average of three problems at each consultation. We urgently need more GPs and other members of the practice team to manage increasing workload in general practice. Good progress has been made to encourage medical students to choose general practice, but we also need to see comprehensive plans to keep existing and experienced GPs in the workforce, protecting them from burning out by addressing ‘undoable’ workload, so that we can continue to deliver the high quality care that our patients rely on us for.”