24/7 GP service (UK)

How it works

An employee books a consultation through an app, web portal or phone line, usually inside a few minutes for routine demand and within the hour at peak times. The consultation runs by video, voice or asynchronous messaging and is delivered by a doctor on the General Medical Council register, the UK's statutory list of medical practitioners maintained under the Medical Act 1983. Sessions typically last 10 to 15 minutes, mirroring an NHS GP appointment. In England, an independent provider running this kind of service must register the regulated activity with the Care Quality Commission, which inspects and rates the provider in the same way it rates an NHS practice.

Where the GP decides treatment is appropriate, they issue a private prescription that can be sent electronically to a UK pharmacy of the employee's choice or dispensed by post. They can also write a referral letter into employer-funded private medical insurance, or back into the NHS pathway if the employee does not have PMI. The service does not draw on NHS GP capacity: it sits alongside the NHS rather than inside it, which matters in a system where general practice already delivers more than 1.5 million appointments every working day (NHS England) and 32.0 million appointments were recorded in a single month in April 2026 (NHS Digital, Appointments in General Practice).

The employer pays a per-employee subscription, often with dependants included on the same fee. Utilisation is the main commercial lever, and it tracks the same drivers as an NHS GP list: same-day demand for minor illness, prescription renewals and reassurance. NHS Digital data shows 44.6% of GP appointments in April 2026 took place on the same day they were booked, with 44.0% delivered by a GP rather than another clinician (NHS Digital), and a 24/7 GP service is designed to absorb the same-day, working-hours demand that would otherwise pull staff out of work to chase an NHS slot.

What it isn't (common confusions)

A 24/7 GP service is not a replacement for an NHS GP. It does not register patients, hold long-term records, run chronic-disease clinics or coordinate ongoing care with secondary services. NHS England's primary care guidance still expects everyone who needs a GP appointment to get one within two weeks and same-day or next-day assessment for urgent need (NHS England operational planning), and the workplace service sits on top of that, not in place of it.

It is also not private medical insurance. A consultation produces advice, a prescription or a referral letter. It does not fund a consultant appointment, diagnostic scan or surgery, and it does not underwrite a claim. Employers who need that cover buy PMI separately and the 24/7 GP service often acts as the front door into it.

Finally, it is not an Employee Assistance Programme. An EAP delivers short-term counselling and legal, financial and family helplines by qualified counsellors and advisers, against a backdrop in which 964,000 workers reported work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2024/25 (HSE statistics). A 24/7 GP service handles physical illness, prescriptions and referrals through licensed doctors. Most employers buy them together because the use cases are different, and ACAS treats both as part of an employer's duty of care to support staff health (ACAS supporting mental health at work).

How WagePerks does this

WagePerks delivers a 24/7 GP service as part of an optional 24/7 GP plus EAP add-on. The eleven-module base sits at £4.50 per employee per month on a rolling monthly contract; the GP plus EAP add-on is priced per headcount band and quoted on call rather than listed on the pricing page. Employees access the service through the same WagePerks portal as their other benefits, with full feature parity in any modern browser; native iOS and Android apps launching Q3 2026.

Related on WagePerks

24/7 GP service feature page — what employees get
Employee Assistance Programme — the EAP component of the same add-on
Learn: Employee Assistance Programme — companion definition
Pricing — the £4.50 base; GP plus EAP add-on quoted on call

Sources

Medical Act 1983 — legislation.gov.uk — statutory basis for the GMC register and licence to practise that every doctor delivering a 24/7 GP service must hold
Care Quality Commission — independent regulator of health and social care in England; lists GP services, including walk-in and out-of-hours, as a regulated activity
NHS Digital — Appointments in General Practice, April 2026 — 32.0 million appointments, 44.6% same-day, 44.0% delivered by a GP; the demand pattern a workplace GP service is sized against
NHS England — General Practice — more than 1.5 million GP appointments per working day, the highest on record
NHS England — 2024/25 priorities and operational planning guidance — two-week access standard and same-day assessment for urgent need that frames what an NHS GP is expected to deliver
HSE — Key statistics for Great Britain 2024/25 — 964,000 workers with work-related stress, depression or anxiety and 40.1 million working days lost; the workload an EAP, not a GP service, is built for
ACAS — Supporting mental health at work — employer duty of care covers physical and mental health together, which is why GP and EAP are usually bought as a pair

Sources verified 2026-06-10. We re-verify quarterly.

Common questions

Is a workplace 24/7 GP service regulated by the CQC?

Yes, in England. An independent provider delivering medical consultations and prescribing remotely registers the regulated activity with the [Care Quality Commission](https://www.cqc.org.uk/), which inspects and rates the service in the same way it rates an NHS practice. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have equivalent regulators.

Do the GPs on a 24/7 service have the same qualifications as an NHS GP?

They must be on the GMC register and hold a licence to practise under the [Medical Act 1983](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1983/54/contents), the same statutory standard as any NHS GP. Most workplace services also require GPs to hold MRCGP and to be on the GP register specifically, not just the medical register.

Does using a 24/7 GP service affect an employee's NHS GP registration?

No. The employee stays registered with their NHS practice and the private consultation runs in parallel. The 24/7 service can write a referral letter into employer PMI or back into the NHS pathway, and the employee can choose to share the consultation notes with their NHS GP.