Online and Video Consultation undertaken in general practice (OC/VC)

The NHS Long Term Plan sets out a vision to offer digital first primary care to all patients in England by 2024. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic there has been an acceleration in the adoption of total triage and of online and video consultation tools in general practice.

The OC/VC data collection will provide vital information both to practices and local commissioners on how online and video consultation (OC/VC) functionalities are being used by patients and general practices. It will enable targeting of implementation support and will support understanding of demand and activity in general practice.

This Notice is served on:

• general practices in England

The first extract took place in March 2022 covering data from January 2022 onwards. Data has since been provided to NHS England on a weekly basis. The collection is ongoing.

Data was first published in November 2023 and was initially released on a quarterly basis by NHS England. The frequency of publication then increased to monthly from April 2024 data onwards (first published in June 2024). The content of the publication will be iteratively built upon over time depending on user requirements and feedback.

7 January 2025

Version 2.0 of this Data Provision Notice issued to reflect the legal and organisational changes which came into effect on 1 July 2022 and 1 February 2023, to remove Appendix A, to reflect the updated publication schedule, to remove references to OC/VC data being used to inform incentive schemes including the Investment and Impact Fund (IIF) and to remove references to OC/VC data being linked to GP Appointments Data (GPAD).