The doctor will see you ALL now... in groups of 15
PATIENTS are being urged to attend group GP appointments in order to save doctors’ time.
Up to 15 people with the same longterm condition, such as diabetes, will take part in 90-minute ‘shared’ consultations – with test results shown at the front of the room.
The sessions will replace shorter one-to-one appointments in England and Wales. GPs say they are more cost-effective and spare them having to repeat advice.
The group appointments have been piloted, with GPs saying they could be extended further and offered to pregnant women, men with prostate issues and patients with cancer.
Patient Concern’s Joyce Robins said it was ‘worth a try but if patients in that group aren’t happy, other arrangements must be made’.
Dr Richard Vautrey, of the British Medical Association’s GP committee, said: ‘You obviously have to be very careful about confidentiality and patients need to be mindful about not sharing things they wouldn’t want others to know.’
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, of the Royal College of GPs, said the idea had potential but ‘won’t be for everyone or every condition’.