All GP surgeries in England are required to offer online appointment bookings from today.

Practices must keep their websites and app services available from at least 8am to 6.30pm, Monday through Friday, for non-urgent appointments, medication queries and admin requests.

Many surgeries are already offering online bookings and consultations, but services are typically less effective in working-class areas.

The Department of Health and Social Care says there is a lack of consistency, as some surgeries that offer online services are choosing to switch the function off during busier periods.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has argued safeguards have not been put in place, nor have extra staff been brought in to manage what it anticipates will be a “barrage of online requests.”

The BMA has said GPs are considering a range of actions after voting to enter a dispute with the government over the plan.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has urged the BMA to embrace the plan, saying the union’s resistance is “a real disservice to so many GPs” who have already introduced the service.

‘As easy as booking a takeaway’

The minister said the government will help practices that need assistance to implement the plan, “but we’ve got to modernise”.

Mr Streeting told the Labour Party conference: “Many GPs already offer this service because they’ve changed with the times.

“Why shouldn’t be booking a GP appointment be as easy as booking a delivery, a taxi, or a takeaway? And our policy comes alongside a billion pounds of extra funding for general practice and 2,000 extra GPs.

“Yet the BMA threatens to oppose it in 2025. Well, I’ll give you this warning; if we give in to the forces of conservatism, they will turn the NHS into a museum of 20th century healthcare.”

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The measure is part of the broader government pledge to transform the NHS.

Sir Keir Starmer has revealed plans to establish a nationwide “online hospital” by 2027, enabling patients to receive treatment and care from home.

The government said the initiative could provide up to 8.5 million additional NHS appointments within its first three years.

Available via the NHS app, it will allow patients to schedule in-person procedures at local hospitals, surgical hubs or diagnostic centres, reducing delays.

Princess Anne has placed a toy bear as a poignant tribute at a children’s memorial in Ukraine, during an unexpected visit to the war-ravaged country where she also met Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The King’s sister travelled to the capital Kyiv on Tuesday, at the request of the Foreign Office, in a show of solidarity with children and families facing the horrors of the Russian invasion.

The Princess Royal met Mr Zelenskyy to discuss the UK’s support for Ukraine and its ongoing resistance.

Anne’s secret visit, which was not publicised beforehand for security reasons, came just two days after a Russian aerial bombardment killed at least four people in Kyiv, including a 12-year-old girl, and injured at least 70 others.

The attack, which lasted more than 12 hours, was one of the heaviest in recent months.

The purpose of her trip was to highlight the traumatic experiences of children living on the frontline, Buckingham Palace said.

Joining First Lady Olena Zelenska at the children’s memorial, Anne left the teddy in tribute to youngsters killed in the conflict, saying her daughter Zara Tindall had the same bear.

As the 75-year-old princess stepped back after placing the traditional-looking teddy at the base of the memorial alongside scores of other cuddly toys, she told Mrs Zelenska: “That was one that my daughter had.”

Mrs Zelenska also left a bear in tribute.

The site commemorates more than 650 children who have died since the start of the conflict in 2022.

In Kyiv, she also met female police and armed forces representatives and heard about their key role protecting women and children.

Visiting the Child Rights Protection Centre, she spoke to families and children who have been returned and reintegrated, and met some of those working to return more Ukrainian children.

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More than 19,500 Ukrainian children have been forcibly transferred or deported by the Russian authorities to Russia and the occupied territories of Ukraine.

Princess Anne is the second working royal to visit Ukraine.

In April last year, the Duchess of Edinburgh was the first to go and bring a letter of support from the King.

Anne’s trip also follows that of her nephew Prince Harry, who made a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital just over two weeks ago with a team from his Invictus Games Foundation.

Anne also visited a rehabilitation centre, where she met Ukrainian veterans returning from the frontline.

The King has met Mr Zelenskyy a number of times and marked the country’s independence day in August by sending a message of solidarity.

During Donald Trump’s recent state visit to the UK, Charles also took the opportunity to stress the importance of supporting Ukraine.

He told the US president in his banquet speech: “Today, as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine, to deter aggression and secure peace.”

The senior police officer in charge of preventing violence against women and girls is “concerned” the political discourse around asylum seekers will “distract” from the “overall threat” to women’s safety. 

In her first broadcast interview in her new role, Helen Millichap, deputy assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan Police and now the national lead for violence against women and girls (VAWG), told Sky News the “real threat” comes from a “multitude” of places.

Her comments follow a summer of protests outside migrant hotels, and come after an Ethiopian asylum seeker sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in Epping, Essex.

“It’s a really difficult conversation,” she said. “Where harm is occurring, you must identify it and deal with it.

“We know for sexual offences and domestic abuse, the vast majority of perpetrators are known to the victims. So I don’t want anything to distract from a clear and good understanding of where the threat overall is.

“I’m concerned that the message could get missed in the current political discourse.”

Her words come amid fears in the VAWG sector about the financial sustainability of victim services.

‘Services at breaking point’

In a letter from the victims’ commissioner to the justice secretary, shared with Sky News, Baroness Newlove said she fears “support for victims is slipping behind other priorities”.

She told David Lammy her concerns have “only deepened” since the spending review in June.

Victim services are “financially at breaking point”, the letter warned, with cuts “directly impacting victims’ safety”.

Ria Brookes was raped as a teenager and waited months on a waiting list after seeking support.

When help came, she says it was a “lifeline.”

“Without it, I don’t know where I’d be, to be honest with you, I have attempted suicide,” she told Sky News.

“You have that kind of exhale that you’re going to get the help that you need,” she added.

“It was an understanding or a realisation, ‘I can’t do this by myself’.”

‘People are dying’

Rape Crisis is the largest support service of its kind in England and Wales. It has shut three centres in the space of 12 months and says more than a quarter of others are at risk of doing the same.

“The referrals, we can’t meet the demand,” Red Godfrey-Sagoo, chief executive of Rape Crisis South London, told Sky News.

“Dire, crisis point, broken. Quite frankly – people are dying.”

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A government spokesperson told Sky News they “inherited a £22bn black hole in the nation’s finances” but “remain resolute in our mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade”.

“Our upcoming VAWG strategy will set out how we will protect the most vulnerable, and we have already given police across England and Wales a boost of up to £1.2bn on last year, in addition to protecting funding levels of ringfenced sexual violence and domestic abuse victim support this year,” they added.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK.

Alternatively, you can call Mind’s support line on 0300 102 1234, or NHS on 111.