A standalone virtual GP plan gives employees 24/7 phone or video GP appointments, usually with private prescriptions, fit notes and referral letters, for roughly £3–£8 per employee per month. It solves access — same-day appointments instead of a three-week NHS wait — but funds no diagnostics or treatment. Most employers treat it as the first rung on the ladder to full PMI (~£57 a head).
- ✓Standalone virtual GP plans cost roughly £3–£8 per employee per month for 24/7 digital appointments.
- ✓They solve access — appointments in hours, not weeks — but fund zero diagnostics or treatment.
- ✓Nearly every full PMI policy now bundles a virtual GP, so the standalone plan is a stepping stone.
What a virtual GP plan is
A virtual GP plan is a subscription — not insurance — that gives employees on-demand access to GMC-registered GPs by phone or video, typically 24/7, through an app. Appointments are usually bookable the same day, often within hours, and commonly run 10–20 minutes rather than the NHS's shorter slots. Most services include private prescriptions (delivered or collected locally, medication charged at cost), fit notes, open referral letters for specialist care, and repeat-prescription support.
Because it's a subscription rather than underwritten insurance, there are no medical questions, no exclusions for pre-existing conditions, and no claims process — every employee gets identical access from day one. Family cover is often included or cheap to add. Well-known providers in the employer market include Doctor Care Anywhere, HealthHero, Medicash's and Westfield's bundled services, and the GP arms of the big insurers.
The problem it genuinely solves: access
The pinch point in UK primary care isn't quality, it's access — the 8am phone lottery, appointments booked weeks out, half a day off work to attend. A virtual GP removes all of it: an employee with a chest infection, a worrying mole or a struggling teenager talks to a doctor that day, from their desk or sofa, gets a prescription to a local pharmacy, and is back at work in half an hour.
For employers the maths is about small absences. UK employees average 9.4 sick days a year, and a slice of that is the half-days lost arranging and attending appointments — plus the days a minor illness runs on untreated because the appointment was ten days away. A benefit that removes appointment friction for every employee, at £5 a head, plausibly pays for itself in recovered hours alone, and staff use it: digital GP services are consistently among the highest-utilisation benefits employers buy.
It also lands well with exactly the staff other benefits miss. Younger employees who'd shrug at life cover use a 2am video GP for a child's fever; shift workers and field staff who can't attend daytime surgeries finally have a route to a doctor that fits the rota. For distributed and hybrid teams, it's the rare benefit that works identically everywhere in the UK.
What it doesn't do — and why that matters
Here's the honest limit. A virtual GP can diagnose, prescribe and refer — but the plan funds nothing beyond the consultation. If the GP says 'you need an MRI and probably surgery', the employee is back where they started: an NHS pathway with a 12.4-week median referral-to-treatment wait (and diagnostics where roughly 1 in 4 wait 6+ weeks), or self-paying, or claiming on insurance the company hasn't bought.
| Scenario | Virtual GP plan | Full group PMI |
|---|---|---|
| Same-day GP consultation | Yes | Yes (bundled GP) |
| Private prescription & fit note | Yes | Yes |
| MRI or other diagnostics, funded | No | Yes — typically 1–2 weeks |
| Consultant appointments & surgery, funded | No | Yes — routine surgery 2–6 weeks |
| Mental health therapy, funded | Rarely (some bundle limited counselling) | Yes, on most schemes |
| Typical cost/head/month | £3–£8 | ~£57 average |
Start at £5 a head — or see what £57 buys
The stepping stone to PMI
Almost every full PMI policy — Bupa, AXA Health, Aviva, Vitality, WPA — now bundles a virtual GP service at no extra cost. That shapes the buying logic: a standalone virtual GP plan is best understood as the first rung of a ladder, not a destination. The natural progression for a growing company:
- Stage 1 — virtual GP only (£3–£8/head). Solve access for everyone. Zero underwriting, instant launch, high usage.
- Stage 2 — add a cash plan (£5–£15/head). Everyday dental, optical and physio money; many cash plans bundle a virtual GP anyway, consolidating the spend.
- Stage 3 — graduate to group PMI (~£57/head). The virtual GP folds into the medical policy, and the referral it writes now leads to a funded consultation within days rather than an NHS wait.
The stage-3 upgrade is where the benefit stops being about convenience and starts being about outcomes — the virtual GP's referral letter becomes a door that opens rather than a letter to join a queue. Our small business health insurance guide covers what stage 3 costs in detail, and our digital GP comparison rates the bundled services insurer by insurer.
Tax and setup: refreshingly light
Setup is about as easy as employee benefits get: no underwriting, no medical questions, cover live within days, joiners added by email. Contracts are typically monthly or annual per-head subscriptions with small-group minimums that most providers have now dropped or set very low, so a two-person company can buy it as easily as a two-hundred-person one — and cancel or upgrade with a month's notice.
Tax is light-touch in practice. An employer-paid virtual GP subscription is generally a benefit in kind like other medical benefits — but at £3–£8 a month the numbers are tiny: a basic-rate employee might pay around £10–£19 a year in tax, with the company's Class 1A NIC at 15% similarly small. Some employers position it within broader occupational health arrangements, where treatment can differ. The premium is generally corporation-tax deductible. As ever with tax: generally and typically — confirm your treatment with your accountant, and see our tax guide for the mechanics.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a virtual GP plan cost per employee?
Standalone employer plans typically run £3–£8 per employee per month — £360–£960 a year for a 10-person team. Family add-ons are often cheap or included. That's roughly a tenth of average group PMI, which explains its role as the entry-level health benefit.
What do employees get with a virtual GP plan?
24/7 phone or video appointments with GMC-registered GPs, usually bookable same day, plus private prescriptions (medication at cost), fit notes, open referral letters and repeat-prescription support — all via an app. There's no underwriting, so every employee has identical access from day one, pre-existing conditions included.
Do virtual GP plans cover tests, scans or treatment?
No — that's the crucial limit. The subscription funds consultations only. If the GP recommends diagnostics or specialist treatment, the employee goes back to the NHS (12.4-week median wait), self-pays, or uses medical insurance if the company has it. Only full PMI funds the pathway beyond the consultation.
Is a virtual GP plan a taxable benefit in kind?
Generally yes, like other employer-paid medical benefits — but the sums are tiny at £3–£8 a month: roughly £10–£19 a year in tax for a basic-rate employee, plus a small Class 1A NIC charge for the company. Premiums are generally corporation-tax deductible. Confirm specifics with your accountant.
Can a virtual GP issue prescriptions and fit notes?
Yes. Virtual GPs issue private prescriptions — delivered or sent to a local pharmacy, with medication charged at cost — plus fit notes for absence and referral letters for specialist care. The referral letter is accepted by private hospitals and insurers, though the plan itself doesn't fund what follows.
Is a virtual GP plan worth it if we plan to buy PMI later?
Often, yes — as a bridge. It solves access immediately at £3–£8 a head while you budget for PMI at ~£57. Since nearly all PMI policies bundle a virtual GP free, the standalone subscription is naturally cancelled at upgrade, so nothing is wasted except a short overlap.
Do virtual GP plans cover employees' families?
Frequently. Many employer plans include partners and children automatically or as a low-cost add-on, and family usage is high — out-of-hours children's appointments are one of the most-used features. Check each provider's family definition and any per-household appointment limits before you buy.
How quickly can employees get a virtual GP appointment?
Usually the same day, often within a couple of hours, and services run 24/7 — compared with the typical one-to-three-week wait for a routine NHS GP slot. Appointments commonly last 10–20 minutes, longer than standard NHS slots, which staff consistently rate highly.
What's the difference between a virtual GP plan and a health cash plan?
A virtual GP plan buys access to doctors; a cash plan reimburses everyday costs — dental, optical, physio — up to annual limits. Many cash plans now bundle a virtual GP, so at £10–£15 a head a cash plan can deliver both, making it the common second rung on the benefits ladder.
Which insurers include a virtual GP with business health insurance?
Effectively all the major ones — Bupa, AXA Health, Aviva, Vitality and WPA each bundle a digital GP service with group PMI at no extra cost, with 24/7 access on most. That's why standalone plans are best seen as a stepping stone rather than a permanent arrangement.