Back in May 2023, the government announced that £240 million would be made available for GP practices to buy and install cloud-based phone systems, pitched as a way of addressing the “8am rush” of patient calls.¹ Three years on, that funding round has closed, and the picture looks very different: the vast majority of practices have made the move, and cloud-based telephony is now something practices report on as standard, rather than something they apply for. This article reflects on what the programme achieved, what's required of practices now, and why the PSTN switch-off means this still isn't a topic to file away.
We've written this with GP practice staff in mind, but much of it is just as relevant for those working in Primary Care Networks and Integrated Care Systems.
Why cloud-based telephony?
Since the advent of the internet, virtually every aspect of how we conduct our daily lives has been changed by that technology, and as a result, people increasingly expect those providing any kind of service to at least offer the option to engage through digital channels. Healthcare is vastly different to consumer services like banking, retail or entertainment, but there is real overlap in public expectations, and the government's own long-term vision for the NHS recognises this directly.
“We will use digital telephony to ensure all phones are answered quickly” Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England, July 2025²
Translating this for GP practices, there are plenty of reasons why cloud-based telephony makes sense for patients: features that ease frustration, such as receiving a call back instead of waiting on hold; better redirection so people reach the right person at the right time; and integration with clinical systems so care feels more joined-up. And there's a sign this is starting to land: the 2025 GP Patient Survey found 52.9% of people found it easy to contact their practice by phone, up from 49.7% the year before.³ Progress, though clearly still room to go. But the benefits don't stop at patients.
Better for your staff, not just for patients
Cloud-based telephony can help your practice in less obvious, but just as important, ways, and one of those is how it helps your employees. Having worked with NHS organisations and GP practices for many years, we know how staff have their own frustrations with telephony systems: they want to provide the best care, but often technology gets in the way.
One of the clearest examples we've seen is a GP practice in Nottinghamshire looking after more than 14,300 patients, more than familiar with the “8am rush” long before it became a national talking point. During the pandemic, it also saw a surge in calls after every major government announcement, and once that pressure started easing, it turned to us to draw on those lessons and upgrade its phone system.
Being based in the cloud, it made a lot of sense given how our working arrangements had changed so much over the pandemic. So, for example, we now have clinicians using the softphone feature through their laptops, wherever they may be working. And they'll wear a headset to keep their hands free to look through the clinical system while talking to patients. This flexibility around devices means we can keep running, even in the event of a power cut.
Practice manager
The system the practice chose also included a wallboard showing live data on incoming calls, such as how many were active and how long patients had been waiting, which helped with both patient relationships and workforce planning.
We use this information to tailor what we say to callers. So, if we know they've been waiting for a while, we can make a point of thanking them for their patience, which can help ease any frustrations. And having this data also helps us plan workloads and staffing.
Practice manager
These may look like small improvements, but since calls are such a significant part of practice life, they add up. Stories like this are now the norm rather than the exception: our Conisbrough Group Practice case study is a more recent example, where moving to GP Voice cut call abandonment and average wait times, increased the share of calls answered within target, and gave staff immediate access to patient records mid-call, all while supporting CQC compliance.
The 2027 PSTN switch-off
There's another reason it makes sense to move to cloud-based telephony now, and particularly given the timing: the PSTN switch-off. BT and Openreach are retiring the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and ISDN, the copper-based infrastructure that's carried UK telephone calls since the 1800s, with a final switch-off date of 31 January 2027.⁴ Openreach estimates around 1.5 million lines nationwide, including roughly 350,000 business premises, are still running on this ageing network, and this is the biggest change to business telecoms in three decades.
In practice, this means every phone service has to move from analogue to digital infrastructure. As Openreach explains,⁴ it works in a similar way to the calls you make through platforms like Teams, Zoom and FaceTime. That doesn't mean every call becomes a video call: modern handsets work just as well with cloud-based telephony, such as SIP and VoIP, as they do with a traditional line.
There's a less obvious point worth raising here too, particularly in the context of GP phone systems: it's not just phone calls that run over copper. Alarm lines, lift lines, card payment (PDQ/EPOS) terminals, fax machines and emergency pendants can all depend on the same PSTN infrastructure, and in a healthcare setting that can extend to fire alarms and other safety-critical devices. Before you switch, it's worth asking any supplier you approach to check for these hidden dependencies as part of a full telephony audit, not just the phones on people's desks. Our PSTN & ISDN switch-off guide covers this, along with how to review your bill for legacy services, in more detail.
Cloud-based telephony is not a panacea
So far, we've highlighted why cloud-based telephony makes sense, but it wouldn't be fair to ignore the elephant in the room: no technology substitutes for your staff, and none of it can mitigate the wider pressures on the NHS.
“CBT isn't a silver bullet to the ever-increasing demand on general practice but it can play a vital role in improving patient experience and allowing for appropriate signposting and clinical triage.” NHS Confederation
With that in mind, cloud-based telephony is a tool, not a cure. So what happened to the funding that helped practices get there, and what should you do now if you haven't reviewed your system in a while?
The funding programme: what it achieved
The £240 million announced in May 2023 came through NHS England's Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care, which offered practices moving to Modern General Practice Access an average of around £60,000 to support the shift to digital telephony over two years.⁶ It was a one-off capital programme, not an ongoing scheme, aimed at practices still running analogue lines, with a target of digital phonelines across England by March 2024.⁷
It largely worked. NHS England confirmed at the end of March 2024 that 92% of practices, more than 5,800, had moved to cloud-based telephony.⁸ That funding round is now closed, so if your practice hasn't made the move, or applied when the window was open, this specific £240 million pot is no longer available. What's changed instead is that cloud-based telephony has moved from a funded option to a contractual expectation: since the 2024/25 GP contract, practices are required to report their cloud-based telephony status through CQRS, a requirement running from October 2024 through to March 2030.⁹
What GP practices need to do now
If your practice already has cloud-based telephony in place, the main task now is making sure your reporting is up to date and that the system you installed in a hurry during 2023/24 is still the right long-term fit, particularly with the PSTN switch-off approaching. If you haven't made the move yet, or need to replace or upgrade what you have, the route to procurement hasn't gone away.
- Check your CQRS reporting status, so you're not carrying an administrative gap alongside a technology one.
- Review your current system against your practice's needs now, not the needs you had when you installed it, especially if it was a fast implementation during the 2023/24 push.
- Procure any new or replacement system through NHS England's Advanced Telephony Better Purchasing Framework, the approved route for advanced GP telephony and VoIP systems¹⁰.
- Factor in the 2027 PSTN switch-off when you review or renew, so you're not making two changes in quick succession.
- Approach suppliers for a proper telephony audit, including the less obvious lines such as alarms, lifts and card payment terminals.
Why Wavenet and GP Voice?
We are listed as an approved supplier on the Advanced Telephony Better Purchasing Framework,¹⁰ and our GP Voice platform is built specifically for general practice. Here's how it can help your staff and patients:
- Ease of use: a priority for us, because there's no time for downtime in healthcare.
- Reduced call waiting times, thanks to better call and queue management.
- Appointment self-management, including SMS reminders.
- Improved continuity of care, thanks to clinical system integration, working seamlessly with EMIS and SystmOne.
- Comprehensive reporting tools, including wallboards with live data.
- Pre-designed continuity and disaster recovery plans.
- Ongoing cost savings and scalability, with no on-premise hardware required and users added in a click.
A few things make us a good fit for this specifically: we support over 800 NHS trusts and GP surgeries, so we understand that the NHS has technology needs unlike any other sector. Every project is assigned a PRINCE2-qualified project manager, and we back the technology with tailored staff training, 24/7, 365-day support, and a four-hour response time to critical faults as standard. You can see GP Voice in action in our demo, or read more about how we support the wider sector on our healthcare page.
AI Receptionist is an extra layer
If the 8am rush is still landing harder than your team can absorb, even with GP Voice in place, our AI receptionist for GP surgeries sits alongside GP Voice as an optional add-on, rather than a replacement for it. It answers calls during peak times and out of hours, books, cancels and rearranges appointments, handles prescription requests and signposts patients to pharmacy or 111 where appropriate, escalating to your reception team whenever a call needs a person.
It integrates with Accurx, EMIS and TPP, understands around 50 UK regional accents, and requires no number porting or call diversion, so there's no disruption to how your practice already works. As we explore in why the 8am GP rush isn't the real problem, it isn't about replacing reception staff: it's about answering the calls your team physically can't get to fast enough.
Where can you get more information?
We’ve included at the bottom of this blog links to all information mentioned in this blog. There is a lot to digest, so we’ve also summarised the key points below. Additionally, you can:
- Explore GP Voice and what it offers your practice.
- See GP Voice in action, in our demo.
- Find out more about our AI receptionist for GP surgeries.
- Read the Conisbrough Group Practice case study.
- CLICK HERE to discuss your requirements with a healthcare specialist and get advice tailored to your practice.
New cloud-based telephony for your GP practice: key points, updated September 2026
- The government's £240 million fund for GP cloud-based telephony has closed. NHS England confirmed in March 2024 that 92% of practices, more than 5,800, had made the move.
- Switching to cloud-based telephony isn't just about improving patient care, it helps staff too.
- Since the 2024/25 GP contract, reporting your cloud-based telephony status is a mandatory requirement through CQRS, running to March 2030.
- The 2027 PSTN switch-off is a fresh reason to review your system now, including less obvious lines such as alarms, lifts and card payment terminals.
- Cloud-based telephony eases day-to-day demand, but it isn't a panacea: the right supplier needs to understand the bigger picture in the NHS, not just the technology.
- If you need to install, replace or upgrade a system, the Advanced Telephony Better Purchasing Framework remains the approved procurement route.
Sources and further information
Updated and verified as accurate at time of publishing, September 2026.
1. gov.uk – All GP surgeries in England to have digital phonelines by March: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/all-gp-surgeries-in-england-to-have-digital-phonelines-by-march
2. GOV.UK – Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England (July 2025): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-future/fit-for-the-future-10-year-health-plan-for-england-accessible-version
3. NHS Digital – GP Patient Survey 2025 results: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhse-gp-patient-survey-results/2025
4. Openreach – Retiring the copper network: https://www.openreach.com/fibre-broadband/retiring-the-copper-network
5. NHS Confederation – PCNs and cloud-based telephony: https://www.nhsconfed.org/articles/pcns-and-cloud-based-telephony
6. NHS England – Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/delivery-plan-for-recovering-access-to-primary-care-2/
7. NHS England – Boosted GP practice access for patients thanks to new phone technology (March 2024): https://www.england.nhs.uk/2024/03/boosted-gp-practice-access-for-patients-thanks-to-new-phone-technology/
8. NHS England – as above (92% / 5,800+ practices figure): https://www.england.nhs.uk/2024/03/boosted-gp-practice-access-for-patients-thanks-to-new-phone-technology/
9. NHS CQRS – Cloud-based telephony service: https://welcome.cqrs.nhs.uk/services/cloud-based-telephony/
10. NHS England Digital – Advanced Telephony Better Purchasing Framework: https://digital.nhs.uk/services/digital-services-for-integrated-care/advanced-telephony-better-purchasing-framework
