In England, GP online contact now exceeds phone calls, new Office for National Statistics data shows.
Figures covering three weeks from mid-September show just over 43 per cent of people went online to contact their GP, compared with 41 per cent by phone.
The shift comes after all NHS practices were required by the government to provide web bookings from October. The Department of Health says more than eight million people used online consultation services in October, up by a fifth from the previous month.
Health secretary Wes Streeting heralded the figures as “a massive step” towards meeting the government’s promise to end the “8am scramble for appointments”.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said it was “about time the NHS caught up with the rest of the 21st Century”.
“GPs have really embraced this. You would think from listening to some of the moaning minnies in the BMA that GPs have been resistant, they’re not doing this.
“Actually the overwhelming majority have and I’m thankful to them.”
However, the British Medical Association has warned the move risks overwhelming surgeries and putting patients at risk.
The organisation is in a formal dispute with the government over the changes.
Dr David Wrigley, deputy chair of the BMA’s general practice committee for England, said: “The government has merely increased the potential for patient safety issues to arise.
“The software simply does not filter out routine from urgent requests.”
Jess Harvey, a GP in Shropshire and BMA member, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that surgeries were already “saturated and working at full capacity”.
She accused the government of having “created unrealistic expectations for patients”, adding: “If they want us to do this extra work, it has to be funded for it to be done safely.”
Patients’ group Healthwatch England raised concerns that some people have not been adequately informed about the changes, particularly that online booking should not be used for emergencies.
The organisation also reported that less digitally literate people find the system difficult to navigate.
The government has mandated that online appointment bookings must operate between 08:30 and 18:00, Monday to Friday. Nearly all GP practices in England now offer the service, according to the Department of Health.
