There is no need to offer many more face-to-face sessions, according to Britain’s leading general practitioner, as the present rate is “about right.”
Before the pandemic, over 80% of GP appointments were conducted in person, but by April 2020, this number had dropped to 47%.
As of the end of May this year, the most recent statistics indicate that little under 65 percent were conducted in person.
Professor Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, conceded, however, that remote consultations are less suitable for elderly patients.
He also discussed the tendency toward mega-surgeries,’ telling the Sunday Telegraph that the days of a single general practitioner servicing a community for decades are “far gone.”
On the rise of remote appointments, Professor Marshall remarked, “We will end up with a service that is more convenient, but not necessarily more productive.”
NHS England released recommendations earlier this year mandating face-to-face consultations unless there are compelling clinical reasons not to.
However, the most recent statistics indicate that over one-third of sessions are conducted by telephone or online consultations.
Professor Marshall stated that the majority of his East London patients are young and tech-savvy, but that this is not the case in “older, more traditional neighborhoods.” “The days of Dr. Finlay, where you had one GP in a stable town for 40 years, are long gone,” he remarked, referring to the closure of half of England’s small practices in less than a decade.
He added yesterday night, “It is likely that a move to more remote care delivery would have occurred regardless, but the pandemic hastened this.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care stated that individuals should be able to see their primary care physician “any way they like.
