Healthwatch in Sussex - ‘You and Your GP’ mapping

The ‘You and Your General Practice’ (YYGP) outlines principles about what patients and GP practices should expect of each other in terms of appointments, communications, support and feedback. It also aimed to create greater consistency across GP services.

To develop an understanding of how different GP practices implemented some of the requirements of YYPG, during November 2025, staff and volunteers from the three Sussex Healthwatch reviewed the content of 163 GP practice websites. 

We identified whether if as required, YYGP guidance was being shared by practices, and if GP communications channels (face-to-face visits; phone calls and digital platforms) were operating during the required times (8am to 6.30pm, Mon-Fri). 

Our report  outlines what we found:

• Three quarters (77.3%) of Sussex GP practice websites included ‘You and Your GP’ guidance or provided a link to it. However, 22.7% had not.
• Approximately half of practices located You and Your GP content in their home page footer, which may be hard for patients to find.
• Most GP websites (62.0%) had information on face-to-face access at the practice between 8am and 6.30pm, but 38.0% did not.
• Most GP websites (77.9%) had information on phone access at the practice between 8am and 6.30pm, but 22.1% did not.
• Most GP websites (66.9%) had information on digital access at the practice between 8am and 6.30pm, but 33.1% did not.

We recognise our snapshot is only accurate as of November 2025 and subsequent updates or changes may have occurred since.

Our mapping identified most GP practices in Sussex have technically complied with the requirement to publish or link to the ‘You and Your GP’ guidance on their website. However, many place YYGP information where it is not obvious or easy to access, which conflicts with helping patients understand what to expect from their GP and their own responsibilities when using GP services.

We also identified mixed adherence to the YYGP requirements for GP practices to operate the key channels of communication (face-to-face visits; phone calls and digital platforms) to operate from 8am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday. 

Whilst most GP websites provide information on these channels, some very clearly and in line with YYGP guidance, others present unclear, confusing and contradictory information about which operate and when, with some, presenting no information at all. 

This picture does little to support a consistent patient understanding of how and when they can contact their GP and may not support practices in reducing pressure on individual contact pathways. 

Our recommendations

We made five recommendations based on our mapping, all aimed at increasing awareness of ‘You and Your GP’ requirements.

In summary, these include:

• Prioritisation of YYGP content on practice websites in line with the national requirements
• Regular reviews of practice websites, by practices themselves and others, to assess how clear and accessible information is for patients
• Greater support for practices in maintaining up-to-date and consistent website content, especially about how to contact them

Response from Sussex Integrated Care Board (NHS Sussex)

NHS Sussex who commission local GP services across Sussex provided the following response to our findings:

“NHS Sussex welcomes the findings of Healthwatch’s countywide review of GP practice websites and the implementation of the You and Your General Practice (YYGP) requirements. We appreciate the scale of the work undertaken, the clarity of the insights provided, and the constructive spirit in which this exercise has been carried out.

We recognise that Healthwatch and NHS Sussex share a common aim: ensuring that patients across Sussex can easily understand how to contact their GP practice, what to expect when they do so, and how to provide feedback or raise concerns. The introduction of YYGP in the 2025/26 GP contract represents an important step in strengthening this clarity and consistency, and we value Healthwatch’s contribution to monitoring its early implementation.”

Further detail on the action NHS Sussex has already completed and is planning to support GPs to comply with You and Your GP requirements is spelt out in the report. Responses are also provided to each of our recommendations.  

Next Steps

We will work in partnership with NHS Sussex and others to monitor the experiences of patients and the public in accessing health and care services locally and explore how ongoing improvements may be delivered.

We will also share this report with East Sussex County Council, NHS England, Care Quality Commission, Healthwatch England and others to share this insight and encourage its incorporation into future initiatives.

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Please tell us your experiences of local health and care services via our Feedback Centre and let us know how this has been for you.

We want to hear if it has been good, bad or indifferent.

Help and support with Health and Care

If you need help or support related to health or care, then please contact our Information & Signposting Service via

0333 101 4007 or enquiries@healthwatcheastsussex.co.uk