I think it's great and have really benefitted from it.
Hopefully it cuts down on time taken by people not turning up for appointments or gettng an appointment which was not needed. For easy stuff it's great to be able to speak to someone and get advice or have a prescription ready and waiting for you to pick up or be booked in for tests first if needed rather than wasting an appointment to be told you need blood tests etc...
Thinks happen a lot quicker as you get the call on the day, rather than waiting for an appointment. I'd imagine it cuts down the waiting time too for appointments.
It's invaluable for me in that, especially with chronic conditions, it minimises the time I need to take off work, especially as I am two buses away from my doctors and have to take time out already for hospital appointments, tests, physio etc...