GPs in Sheffield delivering more face-to-face appointments

GPs in Sheffield delivered a higher rate of face-to-face appointments last month, figures show, but patients were still much less likely to see their doctor than in August last year.
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The Royal College of GPs said it does not want to see general practice become "totally, or even mostly" remote after the pandemic, but warned it is still necessary to stop the spread of Covid-19 as the country prepares for a predicted second wave.

NHS Digital data shows patients booked 221,375 appointments with practices in the NHS Sheffield CCG area in August – 55 per cent of which involved a face-to-face meeting.

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This was up slightly from 53 per cent in July, but still well below 80 per cent in the same month last year.

GPs are seeing more patients. Pictured is Dr Andy Hilton, GP partner in a Sheffield Practice and Chief Executive of Primary Care SheffieldGPs are seeing more patients. Pictured is Dr Andy Hilton, GP partner in a Sheffield Practice and Chief Executive of Primary Care Sheffield
GPs are seeing more patients. Pictured is Dr Andy Hilton, GP partner in a Sheffield Practice and Chief Executive of Primary Care Sheffield
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Dr Zak McMurray, Medical Director at NHS Sheffield CCG, said: “GPs and practice staff are at the frontline of the NHS and are working hard to ensure services remain open for patients who need care or treatment. We are working in different ways to keep people safe from covid-19. One of the changes primary care has had to make is to triage patients over the telephone, face to face appointments are being offered only when necessary as we’re trying to keep people from physically coming into practice as much as possible to help reduce the spread of the virus. People who don’t need face to face appointments will be offered a telephone or video consultation with a GP or nurse, the patient will receive the same level of care as if they were face to face with the clinician.

“Cases of covid-19 are rising and the safest thing to do is to limit the numbers of people in the practice, but of course, if there’s a medical need we will see a patient in person. Also patients who need vaccinations or procedures such as cervical screening will of course be given face to face appointments. If patients need help from a GP or nurse, they should contact their practice on the usual telephone number. If patients have symptoms of covid-19 they should isolate and request a test online https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test or by calling 119.”

It was a similar picture across England as a whole, where just over half the appointments made in August were face-to-face – down from 81 per cent a year earlier.

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NHS Digital has urged caution that changes in how practices operate during the pandemic may have affected the figures.

Professor Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said GPs "have done everything they’ve needed to do" to curb the spread of the virus and ensure the safety of patients and staff.

He added: “We understand that some patients prefer the face-to-face personalised service that they are used to – and that many GPs also prefer this way of consulting.

"However, the challenge of infection control isn’t going away and there has been a rapid rise in the number of people testing positive for Covid.

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"When remote consultations have been unsuitable - such as for vaccinations or when a physical examination is required - face to face consultations have been arranged, and will continue to be."

His comments came in response to recent polling by JL Partners for the Daily Mail, which suggests a third of people who needed a face-to-face appointment between April 1 and September 24 were not able to get one.

The figures, based on 1,004 responses to an online survey, also show a quarter of people were "very concerned" that a video or telephone consultation would not be as thorough as a face-to-face appointment, potentially leading to missed symptoms.

Earlier this month, the NHS sent a letter to all GP practices in England reminding them to ensure patients could access face-to-face appointments if they needed to as the crisis continued.

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Chairman of the British Medical Association, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, said it was an "affront" to suggest GPs had failed to do so.

"GPs, like hospital doctors, have worked flat out providing millions of appointments, including face-to-face, throughout the pandemic" he said.

Overall, around 20.1 million GP appointments of all types took place across England in August, down from 22.4 million in July.

In Sheffield, appointments fell by 36,115 over the period.

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