Doctors have been told to discourage patients from seeking face-to-face appointments and instead promote the use of virtual consultations in new NHS guidelines.
GPs are to implement a system of “total triage”, which means anyone wishing to see their doctor must first have a consultation online or by telephone, reports The Telegraph.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The new plans, formalised into NHS operational planning advice last month, says anyone deemed by a doctor to require a face-to-face consultation should receive one, but “about a third of all patients’ requests can be dealt with using online messaging”, reports The Telegraph.
Before the pandemic, 70% of appointments were face-to-face and the remaining 30% were via phone, video or online, but during the crisis, these figures have “switched” with just 30% of appointments being conducted face-to-face while 70% were remote, reports the Daily Mail.
Doctors fear that this temporary solution to the coronavirus crisis, introduced to cut the spread of infection, will now become permanent, with a report from the Royal College of GPs warning that while remote consultations will remain a “major element” of general practice, it must not become the “default” option.
The report pointed to the benefits of remote care, such as offering patients flexibility, but said online or phone consultations were “challenging” for GPs who were trying to treat patients with “complex health needs”.
It added that remote consultations meant “softer” health cues could also be missed.
It said: “In some cases, non-verbal or ‘soft’ cues such as signs of anxiety, self-harm, or smelling alcohol on a patient’s breath, may be more easily missed remotely, or there may be concerns about a patient’s safeguarding, capacity or confidentiality.”
Some 63% of GPs in a poll said delivering all or mostly remote consultations reduced their job satisfaction and 61% said remote consultations are making the role more transactional, reports the Daily Mail.
-
What to know before turning to AI for financial advicethe explainer It can help you crunch the numbers — but it might also pocket your data
-
Book reviews: 'The Headache: The Science of a Most Confounding Affliction—and a Search for Relief' and 'Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run'Feature The search for a headache cure and revisiting Springsteen's 'Born to Run' album on its 50th anniversary
-
Keith McNally' 6 favorite books that have ambitious charactersFeature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
-
How the care industry came to rely on migrant workersThe Explainer Government crackdown on recruiting workers abroad risks deepening care sector crisis, industry leaders warn
-
Could medics' misgivings spell the end of the assisted dying bill?Today's Big Question The Royal College of Psychiatrists has identified 'serious concerns' with the landmark bill – and MPs are taking notice
-
Washwood Heath: Birmingham's pioneering neighbourhood health serviceIn the Spotlight NHS England chair says there is a 'really good argument this is the model for the future'
-
The UK's first legal drug consumption roomThe Explainer 'Potentially transformative moment in UK drugs policy' as The Thistle opens in Glasgow
-
How can the UK solve the adult social care crisis?Today's Big Question New commission announced to turn our buckling care sector around: yet more delay or finally a way forward?
-
Should blood donors be paid?The Explainer Financial rewards would help fill NHS shortfall but bring risk of contamination and exploitation, WHO warns
-
UK gynaecological care crisis: why thousands of women are left in painThe Explainer Waiting times have tripled over the past decade thanks to lack of prioritisation or funding for women's health
-
A 'transformative' gene therapy for haemophilia BThe Explainer Costly treatment that could be 'truly life-changing' for patients with rare blood disorder gets funding boost
