title: Online data on opening hours of general practices in England: a comparison with telephone survey data.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The NHS Choices website (www.nhs.uk) provides data on the opening hours of general practices in England. If the data are accurate, they could be used to examine the benefits of extended hours.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether online data on the opening times of general practices in England are accurate regarding the number of hours in which GPs provide face-to-face consultations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional comparison of data from NHS Choices and telephone survey data reported by general practice staff, for a nationally representative sample of 320 general practices (December 2013 to September 2014).
  
  
  METHODS
  GP face-to-face consultation times were collected by telephone for each sampled practice for each day of the week. NHS Choices data on surgery times were available online. Analysis was based on differences in the number of surgery hours (accounting for breaks) and the times of the first and last consultations of the day only between the two data sources.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The NHS Choices data recorded 8.8 more hours per week than the survey data on average (40.1 versus 31.2; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 7.4 to 10.3). This was largely accounted for by differences in the recording of breaks between sessions. The data were more similar when only the first and last consultation times were considered (mean difference = 1.6 hours; 95% CI = 0.9 to 2.3).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  NHS Choices data do not accurately measure the number of hours in which GPs provide face-to-face consultations. They better record the hours between the first and last consultations of the day.
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London.
authors.forename: Emma C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London.
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Cowling
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London.
authors.forename: Elinor J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Gunning
authors.affiliation: Institute for Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London, London.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Soljak
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London.
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nowlan
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London.
authors.forename: Kanika
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dharmayat
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London.
authors.forename: Nur
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Johari
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London.
authors.forename: Azeem
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Majeed
mesh_terms: D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D058006:General Practice / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D013222:State Medicine; D013689:Telephone
keywords: England; access to health care; consumer health information; family practice; general practice; primary health care