Face-to-face appointments with GPs still close to levels seen during the lockdowns
CONSULTATIONS IN PERSON DOWN DESPITE EASING OF RESTRICTIONS
News Reporter
FEWER than two-thirds of GP appointments in Leicestershire are being conducted face-to-face – close to the levels seen during lockdown – despite the ending of restrictions.
The latest figures from the NHS reveal just 64 per cent of patients in the area were seen face-to-face by their GP in August, including home visits.
That compared with 61 per cent in January, during the winter lockdown, and 83 per cent in February 2019, before the pandemic hit the UK.
Issues with accessing GPs have led to a knock-on effect on other services, with A&Es busier than ever during the summer and deteriorating ambulance response times.
Analysis by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) showed a lack of access to GPs has been a key factor in increased pressure, particularly with older people, those with disabilities and families on low incomes struggling with remote appointments.
This comes following calls from people across the country to offer more face-to-face appointments, including Health Secretary Sajid Javid.
A grieving mum believes the Covid backlog delayed her daughter’s accurate diagnosis of the cancer which took her life.
Latifah King, 27, had to wait two months with severe leg pain before seeing a doctor.
She was misdiagnosed in December with sciatica after medics had also suggested it could have been a water infection or a twisted bowel. She was given only painkillers.
Latifah, of Syston, was finally diagnosed with epithelioid sarcoma, an aggressive cancer affecting soft body tissue, but it was too late for treatment.
She died a week later, in February. Her mum Lizzie Molyneaux, 54, said Latifah had a lump and could barely walk but was not taken seriously.
“We didn’t have any time to properly plan her funeral or say proper goodbyes,” she said. “To sit and watch my daughter deteriorate like that is vile, absolutely vile.
“She had her whole future, her whole life, in front of her. Now it’s gone.”
Calls were also made by young Leicester mum Charlotte Collins, 27, who has struggled to get face-to-face appointments since she was diagnosed with alopecia last year.
Of her hair loss, she said: “I rang the doctor and they got me in the next day for blood tests but after they came back all clear, I was diagnosed with alopecia.
“The doctors told me it was delayed stress but I was at the happiest I had ever been and I can’t help but wonder if it’s something more serious that’s causing this.
“Since that first appointment, I haven’t been able to see a doctor and my appointments kept getting cancelled.
“I was left with this devastating information and absolutely no help and had to save up hundreds to buy myself wigs and hats to cover it up”.
Commenting previously on the reduction of face-toface GP appointments, a spokes - woman for the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Clinical Commissioning Groups said: “We cannot comment publicly on individual cases, but for any patient who has concerns, it is important that they first discuss these with their GP practice.
“If the concern cannot be resolved, they can contact us by emailing llrccgs.enquiries@nhs.net and we will look into the concern.
“Since lockdown has eased, more patients are contacting their GP practice again – including for longstanding problems they might have previously delayed seeking help for. “This has resulted in exceptional pressures, not just locally but across the country.
“Our GP practices are providing face-to-face appointments. In July there were 335,081 inperson appointments across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, which is more than six out of every 10 appointments.
“There is also the option to have online consultations, which are often appropriate and many patients have found these to be more convenient. “However, GPs will discuss the most appropriate way of seeing a patient and will provide a face-toface appointment if this is felt to be the best way of dealing with a patient’s problem.”
Both the government and NHS England have said more patients should have face-to-face consultations – and that GPs are being given
GP practices must take the preference of the patient on board and provide face-to-face appointments
DHSC
the money them.
However, GPs have said rising demand and staff shortages mean they are struggling to see more people in person.
GPs have seen their workloads increase due to the pandemic, for example, by the Covid vaccination programme, people needing support due to long waiting times for hospital treatment and increased frailty in older people.
Speaking to the BBC, Royal College of GPs chairman Professor Martin Marshall said: “The workforce is simply not big enough to manage.”
Separate figures from the NHS show that there are currently 510 full-time GPs in Leicestershire, excluding locums and trainees.
That is down from 512 in 2020 and a drop of 7 per cent from 546 in 2016 – despite a government drive to increase GP numbers.
Prof Marshall said GPs strive to deliver the same high-quality care whether a consultation is remote or in person, and that some patients prefer remote consultations as they can be more convenient and fit around other commitments.
He said: “Remote consulting will not always be appropriate.
“This is why in-person appointments are being made, making up almost six in 10 consultations in August, and have been throughout the pandemic when they’ve been necessary.
“Face-to-face consulting will always be an essential part of general practice and as we move out of the pandemic, we want to see a blended approach with decisions about how care is delivered being a joint one between GP practices and their patients.
“Ultimately, we need more GPs and other members of the practice team to deliver the care our patients need.
“The government needs to act now to address this by working to build the GP workforce by at least the 6,000 full-time equivalent family doctors that have been promised, as well as other members of the practice team, and address the ‘undoable’ workload in general practice that is leading to trained family doctors leaving the profession earlier than planned.”
Across England as a whole, more than 80 per cent of patients were seen face-to-face either in the surgery or at home before the pandemic.
During the first lockdown in spring 2020, that proportion fell below 50 per cent, and has remained low ever since, hovering between 50 per cent and 60 per cent all this year.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We’re hugely grateful to GP practices for their hard work and dedication to bringing appointment numbers back to pre-pandemic levels, with more than 330 million delivered in the last year.
“As has always been the case, we are clear GP practices must take the preference of the patient on board and provide face-to-face appointments to those who want them, alongside remote consultations.
“We are investing £270 million to expand GP capacity, on top of providing £1.5 billion for general practice until 2023/24 to deliver worldclass care to patients.”
Since that first appointment, I haven’t been able to see a doctor
Charlotte Collins