Matt Hancock: People must have the choice of face-to-face GP appointments
People need to be able to see their GPs in person, the Health Secretary has said, as new NHS guidance took effect.
Last week health officials ordered the abolition of a system of “total triage”, under which those seeking to see their GP have been discouraged and told to have an online or phone discussion first.
From this week, patients have been given the right to opt for a face-to-face appointment in the first instance, following a backlash from patients and doctors.
All GPs have now been told that every practice in England must make “a clear offer of appointments in person” and respect the preferences of patients, in guidance which came into effect on Monday.
The Health Secretary has said that it is important that patients should be able to secure a face-to-face appointment if they so choose.
Asked by Conservative MP Rob Butler if it would become easier to have a face-to-face appointment with GPs, Mr Hancock said people’s rights should be respected.
He told the Commons: “It is important to offer a face-to-face consultation for a patient who really wants a face-to-face consultation, while also using technology where that is the most totally appropriate thing to do. These decisions should be taken between doctor and patient together.”
Mr Hancock said he was a great supporter of technology in medicine, saying it could improve access to healthcare “no end”.
But he said: “People do need to be able to go to the surgery if they so choose and see the right person, the clinically appropriate person.”
The climbdown last week came after the Patients’ Association, the Royal College of GPs, the British Medical Association and Jacob Rees-Mogg , the Commons leader, all raised concerns about the NHS system of “total triage”.
The measures were introduced during the pandemic, but became formalised into annual NHS operational planning guidance, which came into force last month.
The Telegraph had been inundated with letters from readers describing problems accessing GP care – with one likening their local surgery to Fort Knox – after it highlighted the problems.
NHS England had always said anyone deemed by a doctor to require a face-to-face consultation should still be able to get one after undergoing remote assessment.
But readers said attempts to secure appointments had fallen on deaf ears, with others struggling to navigate online systems, or failing to get through to surgeries after hundreds of calls.
Last week Dr Nikki Kanani, the NHS medical director for primary care, and Ed Waller, the director of primary care, wrote to all GPs to inform them that the guidance had been replaced, with new advice giving patients the right to see a GP. “GP practices must all ensure they are offering face-to-face appointments”, the letter said.
“While the expanded use of video, online and telephone consultations can be maintained where patients find benefit from them, this should be done alongside a clear offer of appointments in person.”
Doctors unions have since objected to the guidance, with the British Medical Association telling members that their contracts do not oblige them to follow the advice.
In a letter to GPs on Friday, BMA GP Committee chairman Dr Richard Vautrey said practices have “contractual freedom” to deliver appointments based on their individual circumstances, including “capacity and workload pressures”.
