Revealed: NHS blueprint to help doctors reduce face-to-face appointments
A specially-designed £1.5m computer system will help GPS see more patients online and reduce face-toface appointments under NHS plans, we can reveal.
Firms were asked to tender for the tech contract last week, just days after Health Secretary Humza Yousaf pledged to bring back in-person appointments with GPS as quickly as possible. Since lockdown, most surgeries have adopted a hybrid system of online and telephone consultations, with only the most urgent patients seeing a doctor in person.
However, resuming face-toface appointments is a priority of the Scottish Government’s five-year NHS recovery plan, as concerns escalate over delayed diagnosis and treatment for life-threatening illness. It is feared some patients who were reluctant to ask to see a doctor after being urged to protect the NHS during lockdown are now struggling to secure appointments.
Dr Carey Lunan, a former chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, voiced concern about reducing inperson appointments and said the benefits are immeasurable.
“One of the fundamental things about general practice is seeing people face-to-face. It is very much part of our
A 79-year-old mourner with a suspected heart attack lay on a church floor for almost four hours after a GP working nearby refused to attend and 999 crews said they were too busy.
The family of the man, who collapsed while attending a funeral, repeatedly called the Glebe Medical Centre in Lesmahagow, just yards from the church.
It is understood they were told only one GP was working and Covid restrictions prevented them from attending the emergency 10 days ago. Calls to the ambulance service were also in vain as no vehicle was available. After almost four hours waiting for help, the family, who had been told not to move him, carried the man to a car and drove him to hospital.
Later, in an online post, his son said that, after claiming Covid restrictions meant the GP could not attend, the surgery told the family they could not come because an ambulance had been called. He bitterly criticised the failures that left his father lying on the floor for threeand-a-half hours.
Lisa Cameron, a Lanarkshire MP, said her office received numerous calls of concern following the incident on August 26. She said: “My office is next to the church, so my staff were alerted very quickly and tried their best to get help. My office called twice for an ambulance and contacted Glebe Medical Centre but were told that, due to Covid restrictions, no GP could attend.
“I’m not surprised the community is outraged. We simply cannot tolerate this happening again as next time a life could be lost. I’ve been in touch with the chief executive of NHS Lanarkshire and I will be raising a formal complaint. A system must be found quickly so patients are able to see GPS face to face, particularly in crisis.”
Judith Park, director of acute services for NHS Lanarkshire, said she was sorry the family were unhappy with the service they received from the GP practice and Scottish Ambulance Service. She said: “The family should formally complain to both the GP practice and the Scottish Ambulance Service. We are, however, delighted to hear he has been discharged home following hospital treatment.”
The Scottish Ambulance Service said: “We would like to sincerely apologise for the delay in responding to this patient. At the time of the call, we were experiencing very high demand on our services. We will be reviewing thoroughly and will contact the patient privately to apologise.”