Patients in Bradford will be guaranteed being able to book an advance appointment with a GP under measures to improve access to family doctor services, the Government announced today.

The move to guarantee advance booking should allow patients to be able to fit in seeing a GP around their daily lives and remove the frustration of having to call their practice on the day they want an appointment.

Many GP practices are still operating restrictive booking systems preventing patients from booking an appointment with a GP more than two days ahead. Instead patients are often advised to contact the practice on the day.

The announcement of guaranteed booking came from Health Minister Lord Warner as the Healthcare Commission - an independent watchdog - publishes the results of a major survey into health services.

The survey reveals some practices were still not allowing advance appointments with a GP to be booked.

Lord Warner said: "Patients rightly expect to see a GP at a convenient time more than two days in advance.

"They should not face the frustration of having to call their practice back on the day they want an appointment."

Assistant director for patient empowerment and consumer development for North Bradford and Airedale Primary Care Trusts, Lesley Sterling-Baxter, said: "Local patients sometimes tell us they still have difficulty getting a convenient appointment. We are working on this now and we want to be sure patients can be confident about being seen quickly."

Dr Barbara Hakin, chief executive of Bradford South and West Primary Care Trust, said: "We have obtained information from all our practices about booking appointments in advance. All of them offer appointments in advance both directly to patients and booked by the GP at a consultation, but some restrict this to certain days of the week or afternoons only."

A spokesman for Bradford City Teaching PCT said: "In normal circumstances, all City GP practices can offer patients appointments more than a week in advance. Sometimes practices cannot do this, but when this happens it is usually a short-term situation and for a reason such as a GP being off ill."

The Department of Health will now ask patients and NHS staff what timescale they want to see in terms of a national guaranteed advanced booking period as part of the Your Health, Your Care, Your Say White Paper public consultation process.