Three out of five GP appointments ‘face to face’

Fewer than three out of five GP appointments in Sunderland were held face-to-face despite family doctors being urged to see more patients in person, new figures reveal.

Data from NHS England shows 125,000 GP appointments were carried out in June in the NHS Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group area, 59% of which involved a face-to-face meeting.

That was up from 56% in May, but a significant drop from 90% in June 2019.

NHS England issued guidance to GPs in May urging them to offer more face-toface appointments but, nationally, just 56% were held in person in June.

The Royal College of GPs said family doctors have worked hard to ensure the same level of care during remote consultations but warned that general practice should not become a remote service post-pandemic.

Dr Gary Howsam, vicechairman, said: “GP practices, like other healthcare environments, are high risk for disease transmission and are at the centre of delivering care to vulnerable patients, so it is still vital to maintain infection control.

“Face-to-face consulting is acorepartofgeneralpractice.”

An NHS spokesman said GPs had carried out 275million appointments during the pandemic – half of which took place in person and on the same or next day.

TheDepartmentforHealth and Social Care said the Government was grateful for the "tireless" efforts of GPs and their teams.

A spokesman said: “The Government has invested £270m to expand GP capacity so they can cope with the increased demands and recovery pressures as a result of Covid-19.”