All patients will have access to same-day appointments from April if they have urgent health queries under the new GP contract, the government has said.

The contract offers an investment of nearly £500 million to improve capacity in primary care. Another £300 million of existing funding is to be ring-fenced for boosting staffing in family practices.

The ring-fenced funding should increase staff by the equivalent of 1,600 full-time GPs, either through recruiting more doctors or by increasing the number of sessions taken by doctors already employed by surgeries.

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The GP contract sets out the expectations for GP services in England: what services they must provide, and how much funding they will receive to do so. It will mean that GPs are required to see patients with “urgent needs” on the same day.

The doctors’ union has warned that GPs will struggle to make the change work, while conceding that it will be seen as “a major win for patient access”.

Urgent cases are usually defined as someone who will deteriorate if they are not assessed that day, such as a child with a high fever and a rash, a frail older person who has suddenly become confused, or someone who has a sudden worsening of a long-term condition, such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The agreement covers 2026 to 2027 and will be in force from April 1. Other key measures include incentives for GPs to vaccinate babies and children, and patients with severe obesity and comorbidities to be supported by their GP to access weight-loss jabs.

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Nearly half — 48 per cent — of UK adults avoided or delayed contacting their GP about a health concern last year, according to a new poll. People cited difficulties contacting their local practice, opting to wait for the problem to go away, and not expecting to be offered a suitable appointment as some of the main reasons behind their decision.

Accessing a GP is the public’s main priority for the NHS, along with improved A&E waiting times, according to the survey conducted by the Health Foundation and Ipsos of 2,200 UK adults in December.

“Our findings signal that too often people are going without the care they need, which risks storing up health problems further down the line and placing more strain on an already stretched service,” said Tim Gardner, assistant director of policy at the Health Foundation.

Wes Streeting, the health secretary, said: “Through this government’s investment and modernisation, we’re fixing the front door to the NHS.

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“We’re giving practices the flexibility to hire more GPs, and backing them with extra funding to do so. As a result, many more patients with urgent needs will be able to get an appointment the day they contact their practice.

“Taken together, our changes will help patients stay healthy and out of hospital, whether it’s jabs for children, screening for lung cancer, weight-loss support or continuity of care — we’re backing our GPs to build a healthier nation.”

The changes, which equate to a 3.6 per cent cash increase, build on this year’s GP contract which made online booking requests mandatory to help “end the 8am scramble” for appointments.

The last GP contract was formally disputed by the British Medical Association’s GP committee (GPC), which said that the changes would place patient safety at risk.

In a statement on the British Medical Association website, Katie Bramall, chairwoman of GPC England, said the new contract “will likely be presented as a major win for patient access and some elements may be welcomed”.

However, she added: “GPs will be left reeling over the unrealistic expectation of providing unlimited same-day urgent care and profoundly concerned regarding unnecessary barriers for patients to access specialist care all while trying to keep their practices viable and prevent closures.”

She said the committee received the contract “at the eleventh hour” with “potentially misleading briefings”, working to “only set up patient expectations, which won’t be matched by NHS reality”.

Bramall said: “It is disappointing to see the new Labour administration break from this norm for no discernible benefit other than control. In particular, not permitting representatives of the profession reasonable time to review these critical changes.”