Whisper it, but my remote GP ‘visits’ are a real pandemic win

Amid the understandable furore over difficulties in securing a face-to-face GP appointment, might I break ranks and make a suggestion on behalf of the worried well? Whisper it, but I find phone calls with a doctor a lot more practical and a lot less of a faff than going to the surgery in person.

Ask any working parent who has repeatedly been told they must see their GP in order to get conjunctivitis ointment for a toddler who is summarily barred from nursery until treated, and they too will declare themselves mightily relieved. The stressor is not knowing whether we will get an actual appointment on those occasions when nothing else will do.

So how about people like me ticking the telephone consultation box so others with more complex health conditions can see their doctor in person? And then, crucially, having this noble sacrifice for the common good duly noted on our NHS file.

I’m not saying gold stars or anything – more a quid pro quo acknowledgment that, generally speaking, we have no interest in frivolous poor-me visits. So when we do request the opportunity to schlep along to the surgery and hang about with the highly infectious, it’s because we are the worried unwell, and should be seen as soon as practicable.

While more resources are always welcome, the Government’s £250million cash injection treats the symptoms, not the cause. Even the most dewy-eyed NHS acolyte must surely recognise the case for urgent reform.

It’s madness that GPS remain the gatekeepers to all services in an ever-more complex healthcare landscape. In other, more sophisticated systems with superior funding models across Europe, patients can self-refer to specialist clinics and hospitals.

Here in Britain, the family doctor bottleneck is putting lives at risk; more appointments will help, but the inefficiency of the process needs a complete overhaul. Until that happens, our NHS will continue to stagger from emergency to crisis, until it eventually keels over.