Face-to-face appointments increase after PM’S warning
FACE-TO-FACE GP appointments have seen a significant rise, after repeated Government pledges to ensure patients can see a doctor in person.
Official NHS data for October shows 64.4 per cent of GP appointments took place in person, up from 60.7 per cent the month before.
The proportion compares with 80 per cent before the pandemic.
Amid growing public concern, NHS chiefs in May drew up new guidance, which said all patients had the right to see a doctor in person.
But it had little impact on rates of face-to-face appointments, which hovered around 57 per cent for months.
In September, Boris Johnson intervened, saying that thousands of patients would suffer, unless access to face-toface appointments was improved.
Mr Johnson said people should be able to have “the security and confidence that they will be treated in person by a GP who [has] hands-on understanding of the problem they have got”.
The new figures show that total numbers of appointments reached a record high, with 30.2million consultations in October, up from 28.4million the previous month. In total 19.4million consultations took place face to face – the highest figure since January 2020, when there were 21.7million such slots.
In addition 3.5million vaccinations were delivered by primary care.
Maria Caulfield, a health minister, said: “We’re providing targeted support for GP teams to help them continue to improve access – backed by a further £250 million.”
Dr Farah Jameel, the BMA GP committee chairman, said “These statistics clearly illustrate that GPS and their teams are continuing to do more and more as they strive to look after patients who need them the most.”
The British Medical Association has voted in favour of industrial action over attempts to increase face-to-face appointments, but its new chief instead called for a “fresh start” after the vote got a low turnout. After more than 80 per cent of members backed the action, Dr Farah Jameel said it was time “to step back from the rhetoric of division” and “reset” the union’s relationship with the Government.