The 2026/27 Same-Day Access Readiness Checklist.
Twelve questions to score before your first ICB review under the new GP contract. Mapped directly to the five access and demand metrics NHS England is now collecting at practice level. Read it here in five minutes.
"Requests identified as clinically urgent, as determined by the GP practice, must be dealt with on the same day."
NHS England · 24 February 2026
How to score
Give each question a score from 0 to 3. Total up at the end and read your band. Nothing is submitted anywhere, this is purely an internal diagnostic.
0
Not in place
No defined process, or not happening at all.
1
Informal or inconsistent
Happens sometimes, depending on who is on shift.
2
Documented, but variable
Written down somewhere, not consistently followed.
3
Documented and consistently applied
Written, trained, audited, and routinely followed.
Maximum possible score
36 points
A
Urgency identification & consistency
Question
01
Written definition of "clinically urgent"
We have an up-to-date, written definition of what counts as clinically urgent, and every person who fields patient contact (phone, online, front desk) applies it the same way.
Good looks like
A single-page SOP, reviewed in the last 12 months, used in induction for every new starter.
0
1
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3
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Question
02
Clinical decision-maker for escalation
When a patient's request is flagged as potentially urgent, the decision is made or confirmed by a GP or appropriately trained clinical professional, not left with a non-clinical receptionist.
Good looks like
A named clinician on-call for urgency decisions during every core-hours session, with a documented escalation pathway.
0
1
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Question
03
Monday-vs-Friday consistency
Our urgency identification would produce the same outcome regardless of which receptionist answers the phone, which day of the week it is, or how busy the queue is.
Good looks like
Audited samples of calls across different days and team members showing consistent urgency outcomes.
0
1
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B
Same-day access capacity
Question
04
8–10am call answer time
Our average call answer time between 8am and 10am is under two minutes, and we could produce the evidence if our ICB asked tomorrow.
Good looks like
A weekly telephony report you actually read, with 8–10am broken out separately from the rest of core hours.
0
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Question
05
Call abandonment rate
We know our current call abandonment rate and it is under 5%.
Good looks like
A monthly figure tracked over time, with a threshold that triggers review.
0
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Question
06
Overflow plan for urgent demand
When same-day urgent demand exceeds available slots, we have a defined plan that does not involve asking the patient to call back tomorrow.
Good looks like
A written overflow protocol covering clinical triage, signposting, and same-day clinician contact, tested at peak demand.
0
1
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C
Response standards & communication
Question
07
"Dealt with on the same day", locally defined
We have agreed locally what "dealt with on the same day" means for our practice (for example, clinical contact made, outcome communicated, next step booked), and every team member can articulate it.
Good looks like
A one-line definition on every reception desk, referenced in team huddles.
0
1
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Question
08
Next working day update for non-urgent
Every non-urgent contact receives a clear update on next steps by the end of the next working day, and we have a mechanism to confirm it happened.
Good looks like
A closed-loop workflow in your clinical system showing the update was sent, not just assumed.
0
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Question
09
"Don't ask to call back" compliance
No patient contacting us in core hours is asked to call the practice back on another day, and if one was, we would know about it within 24 hours.
Good looks like
Routine call sampling or patient feedback that specifically checks for this.
0
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D
Evidence & audit readiness
Question
10
Online consultation capacity
Our online consultation system stays open and uncapped throughout core hours, and demand overflow is handled without pushing patients back onto the phones.
Good looks like
No daily submission cap, no "form closed" messaging before 6:30pm, and a documented overflow process.
0
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Question
11
Urgency decision audit trail
For any patient contact in the last month, we could retrospectively show who identified it as urgent (or not) and on what basis.
Good looks like
Every urgency decision timestamped and attributable in your clinical or telephony system.
0
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Question
12
Five-metric reporting readiness
We can produce a report today showing our current performance against the five new NHS England metrics: 8–10am call waiting time, core-hours call waiting time, % clinically urgent seen same day, % non-urgent seen within one week, % non-urgent seen within two weeks.
Good looks like
A single dashboard or report run monthly, shared with Partners, with trend lines rather than point-in-time snapshots.
0
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Score this question
Now add it up.
Your total score places you in one of four bands. Each corresponds to a level of readiness for the first quarterly data cycle.
30–36 Ready
You're positioned well for the new data collection. Focus on the few questions scoring below 3 and you'll close the gap before the first quarterly cycle lands on your ICB's desk.
22–29 Largely Ready
Material compliance is there, but the variation your ICB will see in the data is likely to come from your 0s and 1s. Prioritise those before the first quarterly review.
13–21 At Risk
You have gaps that will show in the national data collection and are likely to trigger ICB engagement on unwarranted variation. Address urgency identification (Section A) and capacity (Section B) as priority areas.
0–12 High Risk
The contractual obligations introduced on 1 April are not currently being met consistently. Escalate to Partners; this needs a structured plan, not incremental fixes.