5 new numbers your ICB is now watching.
A plain-English benchmark guide to the five metrics NHS England started collecting at practice level under the 2026/27 contract. What "good" realistically looks like, where most practices are likely to sit in the first cycle, and the common gaps.
A note on the benchmark bands
Each metric has three bands: Needs attention (red), On the edge (amber), Performing well (green).
These are our best estimate based on primary care operational data and NHS England's stated aspirations.
Where we've used an aspirational figure (for example, the 90% government aspiration for same-day urgent care), we say so.
Treat the bands as a conversation-starter with your Partners and ICB, not as compliance thresholds.
01 of 05
Access · Morning Rush
Call waiting time between 8am and 10am
NHSE definition
"Call waiting time between 8am and 10am." Measured as the average time between a patient's call connecting and being answered by a practice staff member during this two-hour window.
Why this matters
This is the window where most access stories break down.
The 8–10am window is where practices receive the majority of their day's contact volume, often 40–60% of total daily calls compressed into two hours. It's also the window where patients are most likely to be in pain, anxious, or making time-sensitive decisions about whether to contact 111 or A&E instead. How a practice performs in this window tends to shape how patients describe the practice overall, and increasingly it's the metric ICBs will look at first.
Benchmark bands
Needs attention
> 4 min average
On the edge
2–4 min average
Performing well
< 2 min average
No official NHS England target has been set. Bands reflect current achievable performance for a well-resourced practice with modern telephony.
Common gap
Non-clinical reception staff handling urgency identification and appointment logistics simultaneously. When one call takes longer than expected, the queue builds quickly and doesn't recover until after 10am.
Lever
Separate clinical triage from administrative scheduling at point of contact. A clinically-led call handling model lets urgent contacts move quickly to the right clinician while routine contacts are booked through a different workflow, so one stream doesn't block the other.
02 of 05
Access · Full Day
Call waiting time during core hours
NHSE definition
"Call waiting time during core hours." Measured as the average time between a patient's call connecting and being answered across the full 8am–6:30pm core-hours window.
Why this matters
Whether the rest of the day works, not just the morning.
This metric smooths out the 8am rush and shows whether your practice is reachable throughout the day. A practice with a clean 8–10am figure but a poor core-hours figure is often a practice that uses lunchtime or mid-afternoon to "catch up" on admin, leaving patients contacting the practice during those windows effectively unserved. It's also the metric most likely to surface underlying resourcing issues.
Benchmark bands
Needs attention
> 3 min average
On the edge
2–3 min average
Performing well
< 2 min average
Averages only tell half the story; ICBs will also be looking at abandonment rates (the % of calls that drop before being answered). Aim for under 5%.
Common gap
Front-desk staff juggling in-person arrivals, phones, and scanning letters in parallel. The phone queue doesn't build dramatically, but the average slips steadily as each individual call takes marginally longer.
Lever
Route phone traffic through a dedicated channel, decoupled from the physical reception desk. Patients get consistent call answer times regardless of how busy the front desk is, and reception staff complete administrative tasks without constant context-switching.
03 of 05
Contractual Obligation
Percentage of clinically urgent dealt with same day
NHSE definition
"Percentage of clinically urgent (as determined by the practice) seen on the same day." The practice sets the definition of clinical urgency. "Seen" has not yet been formally defined by NHS England.
Why this matters
This one isn't guidance. It's contractual.
The 2026/27 contract made same-day response to clinically urgent requests a binding obligation, not an aspiration. NHS England's public communications have referenced a 90% target for same-day delivery, though this has not been confirmed as a formal threshold. What's certain is that this is the metric your ICB will look at first when assessing unwarranted variation, and the one most likely to trigger formal engagement if the numbers look off.
Benchmark bands
Needs attention
< 75%
On the edge
75–90%
Performing well
> 90%
Important caveat: your score depends entirely on how urgency is defined and counted. A practice with loose urgency criteria will mechanically score lower than one with a tight definition, even with identical clinical performance.
Common gap
Urgency identification done inconsistently at point of contact. Two receptionists, handed the same patient description, make different calls. The practice reports a figure that doesn't reflect clinical reality, and can't defend how it was derived when asked.
Lever
Introduce clinical triage at point of contact: every urgency decision made or confirmed by an appropriately trained clinical professional, with a timestamp and audit trail. This produces a consistent, defensible number that your team, your Partners, and your ICB can all trust.
04 of 05
Non-Urgent · 1 Week
Percentage of non-urgent seen within one week
NHSE definition
"Percentage of non-clinically urgent requests seen within one week of contact." Applies to contacts the practice has determined are not clinically urgent.
Why this matters
The routine-booking horizon.
Most patient contacts are not urgent. This metric measures how quickly the large majority of contacts (that don't meet the clinical urgency threshold) are actually seen. A practice can hit 90% on urgent same-day access and still fail here if non-urgent capacity has been squeezed to protect urgent slots. NHS England has not published a target for this metric.
Benchmark bands
Needs attention
< 50%
On the edge
50–70%
Performing well
> 70%
Bands are operational reference points, not compliance thresholds. No NHSE target published.
Common gap
A bias toward protecting same-day capacity leaves non-urgent appointments pushed repeatedly into week 2. The 1-week figure falls even when overall capacity is fine.
Lever
Protect dedicated capacity for non-urgent bookings each week, and refuse to let same-day overflow consume it. A practice that runs urgent and routine as parallel workflows typically hits this metric without extra effort.
05 of 05
Non-Urgent · 2 Weeks
Percentage of non-urgent seen within two weeks
NHSE definition
"Percentage of non-clinically urgent requests seen within two weeks of contact." The safety-net metric for routine demand.
Why this matters
The safety-net horizon.
This metric catches the tail of the non-urgent queue. A good 1-week figure but poor 2-week figure is unusual and usually indicates a specific operational problem: often DNAs and cancellations on the 1-week horizon not being rebooked quickly enough, so the appointment slides into week 3 or beyond. At a well-run practice, this metric should sit close to 100%.
Benchmark bands
Needs attention
< 80%
On the edge
80–95%
Performing well
> 95%
Bands are operational reference points, not compliance thresholds. No NHSE target published.
Common gap
DNAs and cancellations on the 1-week horizon aren't rebooked quickly enough; the appointment slides into week 3 or beyond, pulling the 2-week figure down disproportionately.
Lever
A same-day rebooking process for any DNA or late cancellation. The freed-up slot goes to whoever is next in the non-urgent queue, keeping the 2-week figure tight without adding clinical capacity.