Para 7.9B.1 of the GMS Contract states:

The Contractor must ensure that as a minimum the following number of appointments during core hours for its registered patients are made available per day for direct booking by or via a service ("a connected service") approved by NHS England that is or may be accessed via NHS 111:

• (a) one, where the Contractor has 3,000 registered patients or fewer; or
• (b) one for each whole 3,000 registered patients, where the Contractor has more than 3,000 registered patients.

Examples:

• List size is 2750 = 1 slot
• List size is 5823 = 1 slot
• List size is 9027 = 3 slots

111 slots should be spread evenly throughout the day and allows these slots to be used by the practice if the slot has not been used up to two hours before the nominal slot time.

If you have empty 111 appointment slots in your appointment ledger you can use these for your patients. Patients should not be redirected to 111 to book these slots.

If a patient contacts your practice and is requiring on the day assessment or treatment, and you have empty 111 appointment slots, you can use these to facilitate assessment and treatment without directing the patient to book through 111.

Note:

The requirement for Practices to provide COVID-19 Clinical Assessment Service (CCAS) appointments (1 per 500 patients) has now been removed.

7.9B.1. The Contractor must ensure that as a minimum the following number of appointments during core hours for its registered patients are made available per day for direct booking by or via a service ("a connected service") approved by NHS England that is or may be accessed via NHS 111:
(a) one, where the Contractor has 3,000 registered patients or fewer; or
(b) one for each whole 3,000 registered patients, where the Contractor has more than 3,000 registered patients.