One in six GP appointments lasts less than five minutes

ONE in six people visited their GP for five minutes or less last month, official data show.

GP appointment figures, published by NHS Digital, show 27.1 million appointments were attended in March, up from 23.3million in February. This month’s publication includes three new metrics for the first time: appointment duration, context and who led the consultation.

Of the 27.1million appointments, 4.5million – 16.8 per cent – lasted one to five minutes. A fifth, 5.4million, were six to 10 minutes long, and less than one in 10 appointments lasted 16 to 20 minutes.

Ten-minute appointments are standard in general practice, but doctors have previously warned that they should be a “thing of the past” as they need more time with patients.

The Royal College of GPS (RCGP) has said that the “standard face-to-face appointment time will be at least 15 minutes” by 2030, in order to give more GPS more “time to care”. The proportion of GP appointments held face-to-face has remained broadly unchanged, with 62 per cent held in-person in March, compared to 61 per cent in February.

Pre-pandemic, about 80 per cent of consultations were held in-person.

Dennis Reed, of Silver Voices, the over-60s campaign group, said: “If people have waited several weeks to get a face-to face appointment, they wouldn’t be that impressed if they’re in a revolving door situation.”

But, he added, “the large number of very short appointments does speak to the fact that primary care is under huge pressure” and members have continued to report difficulties securing in-person consultations.

Prof Martin Marshall, RCGP chairman, said the latest data show GPS are “trying their best in the face of intense workload and workforce pressures”, adding that 40 per cent of patients were being seen for longer than 10 minutes.

“Patients with complex health problems need to have more time with their doctor, so we can ensure they are receiving the care they need, which is why the College has called for 15minute GP appointments as standard,” he said.