The doctor won’t see you now – try online

Increasing number of GP practices abandoning face-to-face appointments in spite of patient demands

MORE than eight out of 10 GP appointments across areas of Cambridgeshire, Manchester and Hampshire are held remotely, new figures reveal.

Following calls from patients and ministers for practices to be held to account for failing to see patients in person during the pandemic, the NHS has published data for the first time showing the number of in-person appointments held by every GP surgery in England.

It reveals that more than one in three practices is carrying out more appointments remotely than face-to-face.

The data, released by NHS Digital, includes figures for all GP practices in England that submitted data. It breaks down appointments by mode, including face-to-face, home visits, telephone calls and video or online consultations.

The Daily Telegraph analysed the figures to reveal the local areas with the highest rates of remote consultations. Unknown appointment modes are excluded from the analysis.

Patients under the care of Ely North Primary Care Network (PCN) – which represents six GP practices within Cambridgeshire – were the least likely to be seen in person last month, with 84.5 per cent of GP consultations held remotely.

Better Health MCR PCN, which represents three practices across Greater Manchester, held 83 per cent of its appointments remotely, while Rural West PCN, which represents two surgeries in Hampshire, held 82.6 per cent of its appointments remotely.

Of the 6,170 practices which submitted data, 2,008 (32.4 per cent) are holding more appointments via telephone or video calls than in-person. Precovid, around 80 per cent of appointments were held in person; the latest nationwide figure is around 66 per cent.

Ministers have pledged that all patients should be able to get an appointment in a fortnight, but the figures show only 134 GP practices (2 per cent) are seeing all of their patients within the two week timeframe.

The NHS Digital report also shows patients’ official complaints about GPS have risen by almost 40 per cent in one year. There were 120,064 complaints in 2021/22 – up from 86,114 the previous year. A third of complaints were upheld.

GP leaders criticised the decision to publish the figures, warning it would create “league tables” that do not reflect the pressures some practices are under.

Dr Kieran Sharrock, deputy chair of GPC England at the British Medical Association, said the data was “really no more than a way to ‘name and shame’ practices when the morale of dedicated staff is at rock bottom”.

He said: “With more than 6,000 practices in England, there will obviously be differences in the way they operate.”